Image: Rhondda Records Welcome !
Image: The Heading new.
Image: The main page
Image: Note
Rhondda Records record label,
is a way of serving The Rhondda....
At a PRACTICAL level, by pointing our youngsters
towards a music scene which brings better employment.
At the level of MORALE ,
by replacing subsidised defeat with living success.
Keeping the highest values of The Rhondda intact.
Allowing a real voice.
This start as a record label is,
or can be, just a beginning.
We stand in the middle of some of the most desirable "real estate" in Britain.
Lift up your eyes to the hills (!)
There, is a plateau of available land,
with all you might need for a successful civilisation.
All the Hopes and Dreams of our forefathers and mothers,
can be made real. When we make the effort.
Rhondda Records aims to bring the valleys people
to the forefront of Welsh life.
Long live The Rhondda !
and ....
Long Live the Valleys of Wales!
Image: NOTES
IF YOU WANT TO HELP THE RHONDDA...
ALL PROFITS FROM OUR ONLINE BUSINESS
WILL BE FURTHER INVESTED
IN SHOWS, MEDIA EVENTS, FILMS, DVDs, etc.
OUR LONGER-TERM AIM IS
TO HELP PROMOTE THE ECONOMY OF THE RHONDDA....
WORKSHOPS ARE NEEDED,
SO THAT RHONDDA PEOPLE CAN LIVE AND WORK LOCALLY.
YOUR DECISION CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
EVERY DOWNLOAD IS A FURTHER STEP
TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE RHONDDA.
WALES NEEDS THE RHONDDA AND VALLEYS OF WALES
TO BE STRONG ... AND VOCAL!
SO... IF YOU WANT TO HELP THE RHONDDA,
YOU CAN:
RIGHT NOW!
Image: Alfonso X el Sabio
Today, NOVEMBER 23rd - in 1221 -
Alfonso X, a Spanish monarch, King of Castile,
León and Galicia, elected King of the Germans
(though the Papacy prevented his confirmation),
is born.
He earns his nicknames "el Sabio" ("the Wise"
or "the Learned") and "el Astrólogo" ("the Astronomer")
through his extensive work and writings,
laying the first foundations for wise governance
in the "Christian" West.
He borrows mainly from Chinese and Persian laws and precepts,
to learn and practise how a wise leader can best rule.
He fails in his bid to become Holy Roman Emperor,
and the seeds of the Reformation drop into the
dark sullen earth of a fractured Europe.
"Those who knowingly allow the King to err
deserve the same punishment as traitors."
"Burn old wood, read old books,
drink old wines, have old friends."
THIS YEAR, 2008 is (supposed to be) .....
the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SANITATION,
the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF READING,
the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF POTATOES.,
(Honest)
and.........
the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PLANET EARTH !!!
Image: eye
NEWS ALERTS !!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dominick L. Auci, Ph.D., suggests that Adam Smith's "invisible hand"
is trying to give the whole wide World a final, invisible finger.
The world’s only private ski and golf resort for billionaires,
Yellowstone Club (Montana, USA), has gone bankrupt.
WOOLWORTH's shares collapse to just over 2p.
Bosch announce layoffs and Corus steel say
they're cutting back production by 30%.
As Ford, General Motors and Chrysler beg for their lives,
the Dow Jones Industrial average falls 426.99 points,
to close at 7,997.76 on Wednesday, the first time
since March 2003 it has closed below the 8,000 point mark.
The US government says that construction of new homes
slumped 4.5% last month to the lowest level
since records began in 1959.
*******************************************
WE SHALL HAVE SNOW
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern,
says vulnerable older people should wrap up well
with several layers of clothes during the cold snap,
and stay as active as possible.
"Eating good, healthy, meals will also help to
provide energy throughout the day and sipping
hot drinks will also help."
He appeals to people not to cut back on food and energy
because of fears about rising costs.
"Fear of increased winter bills is causing more
than half of older people to cut back on essentials
such as food and energy, which could put their health at risk.
We advise any older person worried about making ends meet
to find out if they are entitled to claim benefits,
as this could help take the worry out of meeting their bills."
**********************************
Two leading thinkers, Neil Lawson and Stephen Thake
have been commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
to examine the best way forward for Britain.
... READ WHAT THEY SAY, on the Co-operative News Page.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iranian newspapers quote Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh
- top adviser to President Ahmadinejad -
as saying the country is converting its dollar
foreign currency reserves into gold.
The papers do not say how much of Iran's estimated
$120 billion in reserves are being converted into gold.
Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
************************************************
VICE VERSA STRIKES GENERAL MOTORS
“What’s good for the country is good for General Motors
and vice versa,” said GM’s chair Charles Wilson in 1952.
This week, GM’s stock is trading at around $3,
and Deutsche Bank analysts say America’s largest
industrial corporation, the ninth largest company
in the world, is virtually worthless.
Congress says bailouts are only for bankers.
GM has 266,000 employees. If it goes bankrupt,
2.5 million others will be made redundant.
*****************************************
Unemployment figures show Wales is suffering
more than any other part of the UK.
The Tories predict total Welsh unemployment will
reach 100,000 by Christmas, and accuse the UK
and assembly governments of having "no idea"
how to solve Wales' unemployment.
Shadow Welsh Secretary Wales Cheryl Gillan:
"Unemployment is damaging for businesses across the country,
and brings real hardship to families throughout Wales."
Trade unionists say the figures are "awful" for Wales.
TUC Wales general secretary Martin Mansfield:
unemployment "must be public policy priority number one".
"Because the gap between earnings and benefits has grown,
the newly unemployed are facing a bigger cut in income
than in previous recessions," Mr Mansfield states.
An assembly government spokesperson:
"WAG will continue to do everything we can to
help support the Welsh economy during this difficult period,
and to be in good shape to benefit from the economic upturn
.........when it arrives."
***************************
VOTE FOR FREEDOM
The Joint Committee on Human Rights says that
UK prisoners must be given the right to vote
or the next general election is illegal in European law.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2005
that inmates should have the vote, but the Government
has dragged its feet for three years.
"A legislative solution can and should be introduced
during the next parliamentary session," the report states.
"If the government fails to meet this timetable,
there is a significant risk that the next general election
will take place in a way that fails to comply with the convention
and at least part of the prison population will be unlawfully disenfranchised."
The government originally said it would consider
the issue of prisoners' voting rights in a two-stage consultation
that was supposed to have been completed in January 2008.
Ministers said a new law would follow after May 2008.
Following the recent Hirst ruling, when courts ruled that
states cannot just give the vote to "special" prisoners,
most states have passed laws giving prisoners the right to vote.
Ireland passed legislation in 2006, allowing all prisoners
to vote by post in the constituency where they
would live if they were not in prison.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice:
"Prisoner voting rights is a sensitive and complex issue,
and we need to look very carefully at what the
right approach to prisoner enfranchisement in
the UK is and at how it would be implemented."
*****************************************
US PRINTS ITS WAY TO PLANETARY RUIN
The U.S. Federal Reserve has opened a new line of credit
for the central banks of Mexico, Brazil, South Korea and Singapore.
Similar credits are issued to the central banks
of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom,
Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the European Central Bank.
The central banks will receive funds in exchange
for hard currency reserves, which have sustained
considerable losses due to the financial and trade crisis.
This consolidates the economic power of the U.S. dollar.
The International Monetary Fund is injecting
large sums of money into its Eastern European clients.
Hungary "receives" the equivalent of 20 billion euros,
a large part of which are dollars from the US.
Their machines keep printing and the IMF keeps granting loans.
However, the World Wildlife Fund says that, at
the current rate of spending, by the year 2030,
humanity will need the resources of TWO planets
to maintain its lifestyle.
Developed capitalism hopes to continue plundering the world
as if the world were still able to sustain it.
Insane ? Yes ! Greedy and corrupt ? Of course !
Going to stop them ?
******************************************
CHINA LOOKS AFTER ITS FARMERS
Farmers' income to be doubled by 2020
The Communist Party of China (CPC) approves
a resolution on rural reform and development.
The Party vows to integrate urban and rural economic development,
and ensure a sufficient supply of home produced foods.
The per capita net income of the country's rural population
will be doubled and absolute poverty eliminated in rural areas.
China will ensure all rural residents' access to
vital education, medical care and sanitation facilities
as well as guarantee a basic standard of living.
In addition, a set of resource-conserving and
environment-friendly agricultural production systems
will take shape by that year, the document says.
The setting of a tangible goal for farmers' income
growth is seen as very important.
China's ambitious goals will go nowhere without
the prosperity of farmers, who account for a
large proportion of the country's population.
Since 2001, Chinese farmers have enjoyed a 6.2%
growth in their incomes every year, and 7.5% year-on-year since 2004.
******************************************
Eurozone banks face heavy exposure to East European debt.
The share prices of Italian Unicredit, Austria's Erste Bank
and Raiffeisen International are all down
more than 60% from a year ago.
After a wave of Eurozone bank insolvencies led to
an industry concentration through rescue mergers
in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK,
Austria may be left holding all the debt in Eastern Europe.
Loans have reached a critical level of 85% of Austria's GDP
which is around €240 billion or €32,600 per inhabitant.
According to the Telegraph: Austria’s bank exposure
to emerging markets is equal to 85pc of GDP –
with a heavy concentration in Hungary, Ukraine,
and Serbia – all queuing for rescue packages
from the IMF. Exposure is 50% of GDP for Switzerland,
25% for Sweden, 24% for the UK, and 23% for Spain.
The US figure is just 4%.
European loans in danger of default dwarf US losses.
Neil Mellor, a strategist at Bank of New York Mellon:
"This is the biggest currency crisis the world has ever seen."
Experts fear a chain reaction within the eurozone.
The risk is a surge in capital flight from Austria –
the country that set off the global banking collapse
of May 1931 when Credit-Anstalt went down.
The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements
shows that Western European banks hold almost all the exposure
to the emerging market bubble now bursting.
Hungary is now raising interest rates by 3%
to 11.5% in a desperate attempt to defend
the forint’s currency peg in the ERM.
*****************************************
Ford announces a £70m investment at
its engine plant at Bridgend.
The company says the factory, which employs 2,000 workers,
will produce a new generation of low CO2 petrol engines.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan says
it will secure the plant's future.
Capacity is to increase to almost one million engines a year.
The workforce could rise from 2,000 to 2,100.
The plant is already Wales' third largest manufacturing unit,
after Airbus and Corus at Port Talbot.
John Fleming, chief executive of Ford Europe:
"The Bridgend team will play an important role
in delivering these new engines which add an
innovative ingredient to petrol engine technology
and deliver a combination of low emissions
and efficient performance that will be vital
to meet future customer needs around the world."
Bridgend plant manager Graham Edwards:
"The new engine programme will help preserve
existing jobs and skills. This has been a real team effort."
The investment includes £13.4m from the Welsh assembly government
and Mr Morgan says they turned round the grant application
by Ford within two months to secure the expansion.
He says the Bridgend plant will be the sole global source
of the clean energy engine and it is a
"real feather in the cap" for Wales.
Mr Morgan adds: "There will be this churn in the economy.
You'll get good news and bad news running side-by-side
and we have to face the fact that there'll be
more bad news than good news.
"But we mustn't pretend that its
all bad news when its clearly not."
He says the assembly government is striving to be
more creative in its strategies although he says
they cannot create a market for products if it isn't there.
"What we are looking for is to bring forward those projects
which employ the most number of people."
*******************************************
POUND FALLS 25% SO FAR THIS YEAR
Piers Cracknell, commercial director, Moneycorp:
"The pound is falling against the dollar at its
fastest rate for 16 years - faster than at any
time since the UK came out of the exchange rate mechanism."
"Investors are abandoning the pound for the dollar
and, in particular, US treasury bonds.
The implications of this for a country
so heavily reliant on its imports as the UK may be severe."
*******************************************
TALBOT GREEN LOSES 200 COSMETICS FACTORY JOBS
Currently some 260 people work at the factory at Talbot Green.
The proposal is for the factory to be sold to another
French cosmetics and pharmaceutical group, Fareva.
It is believed they will keep 60 jobs producing
L'Oréal hair products for the UK market.
The rest of the work will be transferred abroad.
A spokesperson for L'Oréal says the main reason
is the transport cost of importing its raw materials
and sending the end product abroad.
Economy Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones:
"This is very disappointing news.
We will do everything within our power to protect
these jobs and a meeting has been arranged early
next week with senior representatives from the
company to discuss this announcement."
Russell Roberts, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council:
"There is obviously never a good time to suffer
such a blow to the local economy but it goes
without saying that when people are understandably
worried about the current economic climate, this
will be devastating for the staff who are affected.
"We will be making strong representations to
L'Oréal management and working with the trade
unions and colleagues in the assembly government
to make the case for reconsideration."
*************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*************
HOOVER CRISIS TALKS
Unions are holding crisis talks with managers
at Hoover headquarters after they announce
up to 337 manufacturing jobs could be lost.
The company says it can no longer make
competitively-priced items at the site.
Hoover announced on Tuesday that it is starting
"consultations" with its manufacturing staff.
"Regretfully, to ensure that Hoover Candy becomes
more competitive we must consider all of our options,
including the possibility of the cessation of
manufacture at Merthyr Tydfil."
Andy Richards, Wales' regional organiser, Unite:
"We need to see what comes out of that.
Presently we're hoping that there will be
some scope for negotiation.
For sure, I think the workforce has been aware
of difficulties at the plant, exacerbated by
the financial crisis, but where there is hope
we'll continue to explore whatever options are open to us."
Mr Richards said he will be meeting with Deputy
First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones and the Wales TUC's
general council at the assembly at 1.30 pm.
"There's things that we can do, but the scale of
the meltdown is worrying. I don't think it's an
impossible task, but the scale of what they can
provide will be dependent on what they get from central government.
We're looking for the assembly to maximise the support
they can give to manufacturing and industry across Wales.
The scale and seriousness of the financial crisis is unprecedented."
The factory employs 450. Finance, legal, IT,
order processing, transport and logistics,
warehouse and distribution departments there
are not affected by the announcement "at this stage."
Local assembly member Huw Lewis:
"It is crucial that we now see a proactive response
from the Welsh Assembly Government that provides for
a positive future for the workforce as a whole.
The company's statement clearly indicates that
there is a future for Hoover in Merthyr Tydfil
and we have to do everything we can to maximise
the opportunities that remain."
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones:
"What I want the people of Merthyr to understand
is how determined we are to be on their side
and work with them."
************************************************
REMEMBER HOW WE "BRITISH" LOST ALL OUR PENSIONS?
Cristina Kirchner, Argentina's president, is moving
to nationalise $30bn in private pension funds,
saying it is necessary to protect retirees
in the global financial crisis.
The government takes the step after 10 companies
in the private pension sector suffer severe
losses in the crumbling stock and bond markets,
according to an Argentinian official.
The measure is approved by the Argentinian congress.
Private pension funds strongly criticise the measure
(well, they WOULD, wouldn't they !)
as a "short-term" move and say their assets remain "healthy".
The 10 firms together administer around $30bn
in retirement savings of 53% of Argentinian workers,
and take $4.6bn each year in new contributions.
Eight of the 10 are controlled by private banks.
One is a co-operative and another is controlled
by state-owned Banco Nacion.
Kirchner says: "We are taking this decision in
the international context in which the G8 countries
and others are seeking ways to protect banks.
"WE are protecting our retirees and workers."
*****************************************
Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong:
"The credit crunch seems to be behind us,
and we are shifting focus to corporate earnings
and economic conditions, and clearly both are deteriorating."
The next stage for an economy which only consumes,
and has had its financiers "saved",
is MASSIVE INFLATION... AND WORLD UNEMPLOYMENT RISING.
The OFFICIAL UK inflation rate is 5.2% !
Do YOU believe that figure ?
DO YOU BELIEVE THE OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES?
*********************************************
Car owners may find this Website
www.petrolprices.com
VERY useful, because it tells you where
you can get the CHEAPEST PETROL in any area.
******************************************
Where is the HAPPIEST place in BRITAIN ?
POWYS, in WALES ! The area of Brecknock,
Montgomery and Radnor in Powys
is the happiest place in all of the U.K.
*******************************************
Dw'in dysgu cymraeg... ar y Tescoes !
Shoppers at branches of Tesco will now be able
to use self-service checkouts in Welsh.
Tesco says a programme that was started in the summer
to convert the automatic tills is now ready.
For full article, see our "Siarad Cymraeg" Page.
*************************************
DON'T TOUCH !!!
A system of "presumed consent" for organ
donations may be sought by Health Minister
Edwina Hart. She insists it remains under
"active consideration". No ! No ! No !
There is a world-wide shortage of body parts...
Stories of body-snatchers and dark evil are
based on fact - this could be a step towards
legally opening up corpses for abuse . . .
Would you trust some strangers judgement,
or prefer to stick with present safe-guards ?
THEN TELL DEAR EDWINA - QUICKLY !*!
*************************************
Three men who plundered corpses to sell the
sometimes diseased body parts are sentenced
to prison for what victims say is a gruesome,
greedy scheme that violates basic principles
of trust and human decency.
In New Jersey a federal judge rules against
the patients who sued after receiving the body parts,
saying they had "failed to establish grounds to sue."
Michael Mastromarino, is sentenced to 25 to 58 years.
Brothers Louis and Gerald Garzone, who provided
bodies from two funeral homes and a crematorium
they ran in Philadelphia, will serve eight to 20 years.
Mastromarino previously was sentenced to 18 to 54 years
for doing the same in New York, where the bodies
plundered include that of Alistair Cooke.
Mastromarino's two sentences will run concurrently.
The body parts were sold and used in about 10,000
surgical procedures performed by "unsuspecting" doctors.
Mastromarino paid for at least 244 corpses that
were cut up without families' permission and
without medical tests, prosecutors say.
Skin, bones, tendons and other parts - some of them diseased
- were then sold around the country for dental implants,
knee and hip replacements and other procedures.
The three defendants, who pleaded guilty to
abusing corpses and theft, apologised in court.
"Words cannot express how sorry I am,"
Mastromarino says to the court. He calls his crimes
"nothing less than disgusting and embarrassing,"
and then breaks down and cries, his face in his hands.
Couldn't happen here.... could it !
*******************************************
UK's ECONOMY BASED ON USURY IS "UNBALANCED".
PROPORTION OF ENGLAND's WORKFORCE IN AGRICULTURE?
TWO PERCENT !!! WHY IS WALES FOLLOWING ENGLAND?
WE HAVE THE LAND ! WHERE ARE OUR IDEAS ???
WHY is the UK's economy so weak ? Here's the reason:
the UK's goods trade deficit climbed to its
highest figure in more than 300 years in July,
leading analysts to warn that the economy is ALREADY in recession.
The Office for National Statistics says that
July's true deficit with the rest of the world
is £8.238bn - the biggest since records began in 1697.
The goods trade gap reached £8.198bn in August.
Paul Dales, UK economist at Capital Economics,
says the evidence suggests that Britain entered
a recession THREE months ago.
Philip Shaw, an Investec economist, says the
figures show how unbalanced the economy is.
IT'S UNBALANCED BECAUSE WE DON'T GROW FOOD !!!
Bank of England policymaker, David Blanchflower,
warns of 2 million officially unemployed by Christmas.
The result will be increased racism and crime,
Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, warns, in a Home Office document.
*****************************************
CHINESE BANK IS TOP PROFIT MAKER IN THE WORLD
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
(ICBC), the country's largest lender, says its
first half after-tax profit totals 64.88 billion yuan
(9.47 billion U.S. dollars), and makes it
the world's most profitable bank.
HSBC, the world's most profitable bank last year,
says its net profit in the first half is 7.72
billion U.S. dollars, down 29% from last year.
**********************************
PENSIONERS - DONT LET THEM BEAT YOU !
Research from Age Concern reveals that many
pensioners are missing out on the pension
credit fund, and losing £2 BILLION because
they find the system too "complicated".
The charity says six out of 10 low income pensioners
are put off claiming because they are confused
by the paperwork, find means testing intrusive,
or believe they are not entitled to it.
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern:
"Many pensioners are put off claiming benefits
because they find the system confusing.
Yet this is money that is rightfully theirs
and, if claimed, could make a BIG difference
to their weekly income.
"Pension Credit is one of the MAIN benefits
available for older people and putting in a
claim can actually OPEN THE DOOR to receiving
OTHER money benefits.
"We would urge any older person who finds their
income stretched to see if they could claim.
Older people shouldn't let the system get the
better of them. AGE CONCERN ADVISERS ARE THERE
to help them through the claiming process."
For the Age Concern OUT-REACH team 'PHONE,
01443 477126
**************************
When inflation is properly measured, the US
economy has experienced little, if any,
real economic growth in the 21st century.
Yet, according to economist Joseph Stiglitz,
the total cost of the Bush regime’s wars on
behalf of US and Israeli hegemony is $3 trillion.
Without a rapidly expanding economy, there are
insufficient tax revenues to cover these costs.
SOMEONE should tell the British public the TRUTH -
WAR AND GREED ARE SHORT-SIGHTED WAYS TO MAKE MONEY !!!
(Read our novel, "COME ON HOME", please !)
*****************************
Israel now asks America to give aid in euros.
Condi says Washington's got no problem with that.
Egypt asks for the same, and is refused.
The self-important West is heading for a series of shocks.
Will it cause us to change ? Or blame others !
**************
THE UK ? HOW SAFE IS A COUNTRY THAT LIVES OFF "USURY?"
BIGGEST FALL IN U.K. STOCK MARKET HISTORY !!!
The FTSE 100 is down 40% since the start of 2008.
Richard Batty, global strategist, Standard Life Investments:
"... if inflation looks like becoming structural,
then that is a worry. The Bank of England won't
be able to cut rates, workers will ask for higher
wage rises, and the situation will deteriorate."
*********
The "free market" is failing;
and the Government has no answer.
Join with us.... and we can
show the world how working people
here build a wonderful life together..
It's EASY...
*************************************************
*************************************************
Here's a clue... from economists at the World Bank:
"Economic growth of the agriculture sector is at least
twice as effective at reducing poverty as any other sector."
************************************************
************************************************
* ! * ! "
For the latest news on hospital infection problems...
please use the 'phone number below.
NHS Direct Wales on 0845 4647.
GP out-of-hours telephone contact details
are available via answerphone messages at surgeries.
Avoid overstretching NHS hospitals, please,
by using GP surgeries' services;
"People face a long wait if they turn up in A&E
with a minor ailment. It is much better if they
use the GP out-of-hours service."
* * *
Image:
Stuck for ideas on what to get for Christmas?
Ten Green Bottles is here to help.
Here is something we thought you might like,
(see picture above)
Yours for just £12 plus £2.50 for p+p.
Just send us an e-mail, call us on 01544 350565,
or pop in and see us at
Ten Green Bottles Powys CIC
East Wing Industrial Workshops
Brookside Farm
New Radnor
Powys
LD8 2SU
www.greenglassmountain.com
Image: christmas - baa !!!
WAR IS OVER - (If you want it)
Once, great composers could hope the public
might hear their dreams and hopes for the world,
and John Lennon's song for Peace topped the Christmas charts.
Now creepy fake cash-corrupted manufactured
tv influenced RUBBISH is ALL we're offered !
This year, Last Choir Standing winners, Only Men Aloud!,
are vying to beat Simon Cowell's "winner" to
a Christmas number one, with a double A-side
single featuring two sickly covers.
Their single includes All By Myself,
a miserable hymn to selfishness and self pity,
and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,
a patronising gift for us "plebs".
Bookmakers William Hill are offering odds of 10/1
on the choir's offering "winning".
Choir spokesperson Rupert Adams: "The X Factor
has killed the Christmas number one in the last
few years, but at last we have a song that can
take on the Cowell juggernaut."
What happened to "Peace and Goodwill to ALL" ?
The choir might be Welsh....
but - BAAAA, HUMBUG !!!
Image: birdman
The following petition is available
on the National Assembly Website.
If you have the time, and feel inclined
to sign it, please do – and pass it on
to like minded people.
Follow the link;
https://www.assemblywales.org/
gethome/e-petitions/eform-sign-petition.htm
It is the 3rd petition down.
Petition to increase the number of people with a
learning disability employed by the public sector in Wales.
"We call upon the National Assembly for Wales
to urge the Assembly Commission and the Welsh
Assembly Government to take a lead in employing
more people with a learning disability, and to
encourage other public sector employers, such as
the NHS and Local Authorities, to employ more
people with a learning disability.
Only 1 in 10 people with a learning disability
who want to work are in any form of paid
employment. This is unfair."
* * *
WCVA has launched its Mental Health Small Grant Scheme
on 17 November 2008. This small grant scheme is
a one off grant and the maximum grant limit (per project)
is £3,000 available to eligible organisations.
Applications are invited under this scheme from
constituted voluntary organisations. The purpose
of the scheme is to support and enhance the
voluntary sector contribution to the care of
adults experiencing mental health problems,
and their families and carers, in Wales.
A wide range of projects can be considered
for funding including:
provision of equipment and improved accommodation;
publications; research; training for staff and volunteers;
one off activities.
The beneficiaries of this scheme must be
those suffering mental health problems,
their families or carers in Wales.
This scheme does not support children’s services.
The scheme is aimed primarily at groups and organisations
that are either not currently receiving funding,
or are receiving less than £10,000, from the
existing Local Mental Health Main Grants or SPD scheme.
Closing date for applications 16 January 2009
Application packs and further information are
available from WCVA’S Helpdesk
on 0800 2888 329;
email: help@wcva.org.uk
or alternatively download from BELOW:
http://www.wcva.org.uk/grants/dsp_grant_scheme.
cfm?display_sitetextid=64&grantid=33
Image: lightening up in Ponty
PONTY' LIGHTENS UP
Pontypridd's Old Bridge and the railway viaduct
built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel are being lit up.
The lights are being fashioned by Lulu Quinn.
Assembly government deputy regeneration minister
Leighton Andrews;
"The illumination of these two historically-
important structures will have a significant
visual impact and highlight an interesting
and important part of Pontypridd's past."
The Bridge over the River Taff was the longest
single-span bridge in the world, when it was
built by William Edwards in 1756.
The stone railway viaduct was built by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in 1837.
Other plans include reopening the lido in
Ynysangharad Park and a new shopping centre.
***********************************************
A design has been unveiled for a contemporary
sculpture at the gateway to Pontypridd.
The sculpture, by Andy Hazell from Knighton in
Powys, is due to be sited next to the A470
opposite the former Brown Lenox chainworks.
To see the design, visit;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/
south_east/7642507.stm
***********************************************
BLUE PLAQUES SHOW "INCREDIBLE HERITAGE" OF RHONDDA CYNON TAF
A series of plaques are being put up in RCT
remembering its famous people, events and places.
Thirty sites are chosen on the Rhondda Cynon Taf
heritage trail, which receives £49,200 from the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
Council cabinet member for culture and recreation Robert Bevan:
"We have an incredible heritage in Rhondda Cynon Taf
and one which we remain justifiably proud of.
This is our opportunity to showcase the people,
the places and the events of our county borough
to all those individuals who live in, work in
or visit Rhondda Cynon Taf."
The council's libraries and museums service
worked with voluntary organisations and individuals
for nearly two years to select the 30 sites.
People, places or events which already had a plaque
or anyone who died less than 10 years ago were ineligible.
The 30 plaques include:
In the Rhondda:
Footballer and manager Jimmy Murphy,
Pendyrus Male Choir, William Abraham MP,
Castell Nos medieval castle, Treorchy Male Choir,
The Cory Band, Labour Party organiser Elizabeth Andrews,
Tonypandy Riots, Donald Houston, Cymmer Independent Chapel.
In the Cynon Valley:
Hirwaun Ironworks, Hen Dy Cwrdd Chapel in Trecynon,
Tramway Bridge between Trecynon and Robertstown,
Gadlys Ironworks, The Palladium in Aberdare,
Market Hall in Aberdare, rugby player Dr Teddy Morgan,
Abernant y Groes colliery in Cwmbach,
cyclist Arthur Linton, Navigation House in Abercynon.
In Taff Ely:
Boxer Freddie Welsh, industrialist Dr Richard Griffiths,
pioneer of cremation Dr William Price,
opera singer Sir Geraint Evans, Nantgarw China Works,
the Guildhall, Pwysty weighing house, and the
parish workhouse in Llantrisant, the Reverend
William Evans, and author Richard Llewellyn.
Image: santa at Ynysangharad Park
22nd of November - 24th of December 2008
Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm
Saturday 10am to 6pm
Sunday 12pm to 4pm
Please call to check times.
Ynysangharad War Memorial Park,
Pontypridd.
Experience the true magic of Christmas
with a visit to Santa's Winter Wonderland
at Ynysangharad War Memorial Park,
Pontypridd.
Ticket information
(Different packages available)
telephone 01443 404699
Image: learn with granma logo
VALERIE WOOD-GAIGER ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INVOLVED
Valerie Wood-Gaiger joined the Women’s Institute
as a young woman. She then became a lapsed member
until the age of 61. Now 67, she holds an MBE,
and in March this year was also given a special
award for Innovation in Education.
She won through the recent competition we featured,
to become Sky’s W-Icon, and receives a prize of £10,000
which she can use to donate to any good cause.
Valerie: "I only applied the day before the
competition closed, and before I knew it I
found myself in the top 10. We then had two
days to ask people to vote for me. I live in
Myddfai, where there are only about five computers!
So I enlisted help from my grandchildren.
I was amazed that I received votes from Ukraine
to California; Latvia to Australia!
I am thrilled that Wales has another winner.
The judges actually decided to have two winners.
The other one is Emma Cunningham, a 35 year old,
from Hampshire. Between the two of us we illustrate
the wide age range of women involved with the modern WI.
The prize money will be donated to the ‘not for profit’
company Learn with Grandma, which I co-founded
after I read that 64% of grandparents look after
their grandchildren on a regular basis.
In the past that was something they did because
they wanted to, but these days, with both couples
having to work and so many divorces, it is almost
becoming a full time commitment. I want to use
this money to help people all over the country
have fun without breaking the bank, especially
important in these economically difficult times.
I am researching a directory, designed for grandparents
that will list free and cheap places to take the grandchildren.
I think I am going to call it "Grandma’s Guide
to Great Days Out". While it is being built,
it will soon be available on line but it will be
published as a book as soon as possible.
The aim is to help grandparents and those on low incomes
to find interesting but low cost places to take children
and grandchildren. At the moment everything seems
very expensive and if a couple of children are
involved it can be prohibitively so.
Grandma’s Guide will help people to plan days
out that can be fun, create lasting memories &
could be educational too. So, if you know of a
great place to go that is free, or is great
value for money, please let me know. I’ve already
persuaded the National Botanic Gardens to offer a
free day to grandparents to bring along their grandchildren."
Valerie is becoming used to winning prizes -
she won a first in WI Myddfai Show this year for
her custard tart. She searched Google for the
recipe of the superb custard tart she ate in
Portugal, while on an archeological dig last summer.
She says some may not be aware that, as well as
being fun, the WI is, and always was, a strong
campaigning organisation. One current campaign
is against slavery in the West. Valerie's just
returned from a conference in the Ukraine on
language learning where she was the keynote speaker.
If you would like to learn more
about Valerie Wood-Gaiger MBE
please go to: www.4learningenglish.com
Image: Santa at Trehafod
22nd of November - 24th of December 2008
10am - 4pm
(Late night until 7pm 19th - 23rd)
Rhondda Heritage Park,
Trehafod
At the Rhondda Heritage Park
Fully guided tour in search for Santa -
through the underground workings, snow storm
and ice cave before his secret grotto is revealed.
Places must be pre-booked.
www.rhonddaheritagepark.com
Call 01443 682036 for information.
Tickets from £5.95 -
special discounts available for school groups.
Image: soil-less culture produces giant pumpkins
A huge pumpkin growing in an intelligent greenhouse
in Xiqing District in Tianjin, north China.
The greenhouse is built to show new agricultural technologies,
such as soilless culture and drip irrigation etc.,
as a model of modern sightseeing agriculture.
**************************
AND IN WALES?
£850,000 is being invested in growing daffodils.
A company harvesting a substance from daffodils
used to fight Alzheimer's disease has landed
£850,000 worth of investment to go into full production.
Alzeim, from near Brecon, Powys, farms daffodils
for a compound called galantamine, which slows
the progress of the disease.
They are grown on the hillsides of the Black Mountains.
The money has come from Welsh Assembly Government
investment company Finance Wales and private investors.
Alzeim Limited say the drug is free on the NHS in Scotland,
but is only prescribed privately in Wales
and England because of cost.
Now the company says it believes it has developed
ways of producing galantamine at a low enough cost
to persuade the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
to put it on the standard prescription list.
Kevin Stephens, chief executive of Alzei:
"The company has achieved much with very little
cash so far, relying on the support of a few
dedicated people, especially Professor Trevor Walker.
"The fundraising proves their vision and allows
us to move forward on a sound commercial basis."
Alzeim, which is based in the village of Talgarth,
first held trials in 2006 about whether daffodils
could be farmed in the Black Mountains,
and found that the substance used to treat Alzheimer's
is richer in daffodils grown on the mountains
than in those grown in lowland areas.
Previously the substance was only found in
wild snowdrops in Bulgaria and China.
The plan now is to sell galantamine to drug companies.
Nearly £850,000 has come from Finance Wales,
Cardiff-based Gambit Corporate Finance and
a number of individual investors.
Rhian Pugh of Finance Wales:
"committed research" has led Alzeim to succeed.
****************************
BIG Changes in Rhondda Records -
Rhondda Records calls for a new way forward
- for the old ex-mining valleys....
with Penrhys Boilerhouse Project;
and is changing itself - with a new team,
a new web service, and a fresh membership !
........... watch this space !!!
************************************
FOR PART OF OUR VISION, PLEASE SEE THE
"POET SPEAKS" PAGE, THE EVENTS PAGE, AND
THE NEW BOILERHOUSE PAGE. THANK YOU.
************************************
Image: Porth lantern lights
24th of November 2008
4.30pm to 7.30pm
Porth Town Centre
Porth
Christmas Lights Switch On
Santa's Grotto at Porth Library
Lantern parade up to Bronwydd Park
for a Christmas light show.
For more info please paste below into your browser
www.porth.biz/events.asp
YM LAEN - NAWR !!!
Some of Wales' most famous musicians, are accusing
the Welsh Assembly Government of "abdicating its
responsibility" to young music makers.
Composer Karl Jenkins:
"I think the government has, to a certain extent,
abdicated its responsibility, because it is no good
passing the buck to local authorities.
It should come from a central source."
Mr Jenkins is very concerned that funding to
enable young people to learn to play instruments
is now cut back because the Welsh Assembly Government
no longer gives funding.
Karl Jenkins again: "It shouldn't be a lottery as
to where one lives or what local authority one
is in or what school a child goes to. It should
be part of every child's right, I think."
Money for music is no longer "ring fenced" -
because it is now supposed to come out of "cash
strapped" general council funds.
In some areas children must pay for tuition,
in others it is free.
Karl Jenkins: "I think the government has, to a
certain extent, abdicated its responsibility,
because it is no good passing the buck to local
authorities. It should come from a central source.
"Funding should be sufficient to enable all young
children to have a decent musical education.
But funding should be ring-fenced so it's protected."
In 2006, former music advisor, Helena Braithwaite
organised a letter to First Minister, Rhodri Morgan,
signed by Karl Jenkins and over 30 other Welsh music stars,
including Bryn Terfel, conductor Owain Arwel Hughes,
harpist Catrin Finch and Super Furry Animals.
The musicians said they could not stand by
"while youth music in Wales stagnates and declines".
The reply? They were told their concerns were
"a matter for local authorities, not Wales' Government."
Helena Braithwaite: "They couldn't believe it.
That's the truth of it. Annoyed. Disgusted.
Hurt. Because let's face it, these people do a
tremendous amount for our country you know:
tourism, you know, kudos throughout the world.
And here they are saying, 'look, we support this,
we really feel strongly about this', and they're
disregarded in a way."
Helena Braithwaite says there has been no change
in the two years since that letter, and since
inspection body Estyn said music teaching faces
"an uncertain future."
"In some counties there have been huge cuts to music.
In other counties, not so bad. But everywhere,
and this came out in Estyn, everywhere, there
have been cuts.
"The other thing is that there were extra music
teachers employed. Now, of course, they've had to
be sacked because there's no work for them.
So altogether it's a very depressing situation."
***********************************************
VENEZUELA, SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND "LANDS OF SONG"
Children living on ENGLAND's poorest estates are
to be provided with musical instruments and taught
- for free - how to play beautiful music.
They can then be encouraged to join full orchestras.
The scheme, fronted by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber,
could tackle disaffection and boost aspiration,
as it has done already... in Venezuela.
Instruments could be given to children as young
as four - from deprived neighbourhoods, Lord
Adonis is to announce this week.
The aim is to duplicate the success of a Venezuelan
programme that provides free classical music lessons
to children living amid the drug addiction, crime
and poverty of the country's most violent slums.
El Sistema, which resulted in the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra,
has been credited with transforming the lives of children
AND the social fabric of the country. Its orchestra
recently performed to huge acclaim in London.
Lloyd Webber;
"I would say we were "inspired" by El Sistema,
because you can't just copy something like that.
These are children who would never have thought
of playing classical music. We are approaching
music from a completely different angle. We are
trying to take children out of poverty through
music. They will be given instruments and they
will be given proper tuition. If it DOES work
here, it will change the face of musical education
in this country."
Lloyd Webber plans to work closely with Scottish
Arts Council chairman Richard Holloway, who chairs
a similar scheme in SCOTLAND, which launches
its first project in Stirling later this month.
Lord Adonis will unveil the ENGLISH version of
the Venezuelan programme this week at the
Federation of Music Services annual conference.
Lord Adonis;
"Last August the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra
played at the Royal Albert Hall. It was stunning,
enthralling and inspirational. We want to take
this model, which has had such a positive impact
on lives in Venezuela, and look at how it can be
made to work in this country. I'm very pleased
that Julian Lloyd Webber is on board. Not only is
he a brilliant musician; he will make a great
figurehead and a passionate advocate of our
version of El Sistema. Music can be a powerful
source of social change. It teaches discipline
and rigour, it raises hopes and aspirations and
it gives young people skills that stay with them for life."
One child to come from El Sistema is conductor
Gustavo Dudamel. He took up the violin at the
age of 10. Now 27, Dudamel, who calls music a
'social saviour', is to become music director of
the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.
Christina Coker, chief executive of Youth Music;
"El Sistema is about lifting people out of poverty.
The thing we must learn from it is that what we
are seeing now is the outcome of 30 years.
The risk here is that we stop and start with pilots."
Coker says the scheme might be better targeting
children under the age of five. The real orchestra
in Venezuela, she adds, is "the children's
family, their school, their community."
Youth Music can be found at;-
http://www.youthmusic.org.uk/
Image: Colwyn Road, Gelli, streetmap
Deafblind Cymru Rhondda Group Launch
Wednesday 26th November
10am till midday
Anyone with combined sight and hearing
difficulties welcome.
Bronllwyn Day Centre,
Colwyn Road,
Gelli
cost: Free
Information: 029 2060 1471
Email: nerys.probert@defblind.org.uk
Image: Grand Slam T shirt
WE DID IT!!!
The Grand Slam Shop is open for business at
www.grandslamshop.co.uk
Grand Slam 2008 T-Shirts are available
in mens and ladies sizes and we have a range
of Welsh Rugby CDs at specially reduced prices.
More products will be arriving in the next few days
so visit us now and join our members list
to receive exclusive offers!
WWW.GRANDSLAMSHOP.CO.UK
*************************************************
ENGLAND DESTROYED BY INDIA
An England batting collapse and Yuvraj Singh's century
see the tourists thrashed by India in the first
of seven one-day internationals in Rajkot.
Openers Virender Sehwag (85) and Gautam Gambhir (51)
give India a fine start before Yuvraj crafts 138 off 78 balls.
Replying to India's 387-5, England fall to 38-4
with Zaheer Khan taking (3-26).
Captain Kevin Pietersen (63) tries to haul his
side back into the match but is run out and the
tourists are soon dismissed for 229, a loss by 158 runs.
Ha Haar !!!
***********************************************
HOW DID CALZAGHE BEAT JONES ?
Calzaghe threw 985 punches to Jones' 475,
landing with 35% to Jones' 33%.
***********************************************
LET'S TURN YOUR RUGBY CLUB...INTO A COMMUNITY HUB
The Welsh Rugby Union is working on a £1m package
to encourage clubs to develop facilities for all ages.
Chief Executive Roger Lewis says he wants to
forge partnerships with politicians to turn
clubs into community hubs.
Discussions are underway with the assembly
government and local councils.
Mr Lewis: "The clubs are the hubs of the community,
and rugby is one of the bits of glue
which keeps the community together.
But the clubs can be so many other things as well.
We've been talking to the Welsh Assembly
Government to see what else the clubs can do.
Can they do coffee mornings for young mums,
a place for old folk to drop in?
Can they be an IT centre?"
Mr Lewis said there were similar communities
all over Wales that could benefit from using
improved rugby club facilities.
The WRU is planning a £1 million package to help clubs
to promote grassroots rugby facilities over the next year.
A quarter of a million pounds from the Sports Foundation
is offered to clubs in match funding for any scheme.
The WRU says it will provide an additional half a
million pounds to clubs in loans to boost facilities.
"We want to give this cash to clubs who really
want to develop facilities," Mr Lewis says.
"We want to see places like my home club, Cefn Cribwr,
grow and flourish and there are similar places across Wales."
**************************************************
Former BBC sports presenter dies
Send your tributes to Bob Humphrys here;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A39780192
Former BBC Wales sports correspondent Bob Humphrys
died two months after he confirmed he had cancer.
Mr Humphrys, who was 56 and lived in Cardiff,
passed away with his family at his bedside.
He presented Wales Today's sports coverage
for 20 years before taking early retirement this year.
His brother John Humphrys, presenter of Radio 4's
Today programme, says: "He was a great journalist
and a great man and we will all miss him so much."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Farmer Aled Owen wins his second World Sheepdog Championship...
Mr Owen, and his sheepdog Roy, from Corwen in Denbighshire,
wins by one point over Netherlands rival Ron Snoeck.
Aled won his first world trophy the last time,
six years ago in Bala, Gwynedd.
Mr Owen says there was also only one point
in his first triumph; "I don't make it
easy for myself, do I ?"
More than 240 dogs and handlers from 22 nations
competed in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire.
Mr Owen was among the favourites to regain the
2008 Land Rover World Sheepdog Trials title
over the four-day contest at Dinefwr Park.
Aled Owen;
"Yes, it's a fantastic end to the championship.
It was very close, only one merit point between
Ron and myself, to close for comfort.
I've walked miles, couldn't eat, couldn't stand
still.... waiting for the result."
Last time, Mr Owen won with a different sheepdog, Bob.
This time, his latest winner, Roy, "worked very
hard over the last days in the qualifiers,
semi-final and the final."
At the close of the competition, both Mr Owen
and Mr Snoek were level on 583 points, so the
four judges had to make a decision based on merit points.
Only one merit point separated them, with the
Welshman on 61 and the Dutchman on 60.
Stuart Davidson from Scotland came third.
Mr Owen receives £3,000, and a solid gold shepherd's whistle
commissioned by the International Sheep Dog Society's
main sponsor, Gilbertson and Page, plus a gold medal.
The event is staged every three years and attracts
contestants from countries as far as New Zealand,
Australia, South Africa, and the United States.
***********************************************
Image: Tonyrefail Christmas
27th of November 2008
5pm to 7pm (Parade at 6.30pm)
Tonyrefail Annual Christmas Parade
and lights switch-on
Free event - for more info please call
RCT Events Team on 01443 490200
Image: COME ON HOME TO A GREEN WALES
National Showcase for Welsh green technology
Wales is to showcase its green credentials at the
UK's first national low carbon vehicle event.
The one-day event gives five of Wales' leading
alternative transport companies a chance to
show their skills to more industry experts.
Taking place at Millbrook Proving Ground in Befordshire
the invitation-only event is attracting over
800 policy-makers and industry experts.
Wales has a high profile - with its own pavilion.
Wales is becoming a leading centre for the development
of alternative fuel technologies in recent years
- with the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.
The five Welsh companies at the event include:
Atraverda Ltd - which has developed a ceramic material
to replace the lead components in lead acid batteries
- making them lighter and greener.
Connaught Engineering - which has developed the world's
only retrofit braking system which can save up to
25% on fuel and CO2 emissions.
The Hydrogen Bus - The world's first Tribrid minibus
developed by Glamorgan University.
The Narrow Car Company - The Abercynon firm's
metre-wide, tandem, two-seater NARO car
is a bid to "change urban transport".
Stevens Vehicles - Their zero carbon emission
electric powered cars and vans can travel
50 miles for less than £1.
All hope the event will help launch their products
to world manufacturers, suppliers, technology
specialists and fleet operators.
Managing director of Stevens Vehicles, Peter Stevens:
"We've brought our first customer's van up
so people can see that our vehicle is out there
and not just a concept vehicle."
Atraverda's chief technical officer, Andrew Loyns:
"What we're trying to do is to change the perception
of lead acid chemistry which isn't easy because
people have the impression that it's really dirty and old.
But old lead acid batteries are almost 100% recyclable
and we're hoping the event will give us the opportunity
to show people that although lead batteries are over
100 years old - we're taking them to the next level
with our new ceramic material."
The assembly government's international trade and investment arm,
International Business Wales (IBW) is an event sponsor.
It will also be promoting the recently opened
Hydrogen Research Centre at Baglan Energy Park
along with Welsh universities which are working
on collaborative projects within the auto industry.
Economy and Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones:
"Ground-breaking work is under way in Wales
in the drive towards a lower carbon economy.
"We are making an important contribution towards
the creation of a green automotive industry and
have a number of highly innovative products
either on the market or under development,
including low or zero carbon emission vehicles.
"The development of new and innovative technologies
and products will play an increasingly important role
in the current economic climate. "
Image: Treorchy Christmas
28th of November 2008
5pm to 7pm (Parade at 6.30pm)
Treorchy Annual christmas reindeer parade
with lights switch-on
Free event -
for more info please call
RCT Events Team on 01443 490200
Image: Real special. .... Real needs.
REAL SPECIAL - REAL NEEDS
A social networking site for disabled people and carers
could become THE main online tool for those with learning difficulties.
Martin Harris, based in the Vale of Glamorgan,
is the creator of Special Friends.
An on-site facility converts images into sentences
which can then be translated into other languages.
Mr Harris says the site will be strictly policed
at all times to protect its users;
"For many years it has been evident that many
mainstream forms of communication have not considered
the requirements of users with special needs,
and as a result they are very often left behind."
"With the introduction of Special Friends, I hope
that young people and their carers from across
the world can begin to build on the friendships
and social networks that many of them already
have, but now with much greater ease, security
and peace of mind."
The idea came after Mr Harris saw close friendships
made between athletes from different countries
at the Special Olympics in 2007.
Initially translated into three languages,
Smiley Talk will soon be available to translate
users' conversations in 14 different languages.
An advertising campaign will see more than 10,000
leaflets distributed to UK-based athletes
involved in the Special Olympics as well as a drive
to encourage special schools to use the site.
Annual membership to Special Friends is £7.99.
10% is donated to a Special Friends affiliated charity.
www.specialfriendsonline.com/
*******************************************
FIFTY PERCENT TO BE TAUGHT BY COMPUTER !!!
From online courses to child-friendly laptops
and virtual teachers, technology is spreading
in America's classrooms, reducing the need for
textbooks, note pads, paper and in some cases
even the schools themselves.
Just ask 11-year-old Jemella Chambers. She is one
of 650 students who receive an Apple Inc laptop
each day at a state-funded school in Boston.
From the second row of her classroom, she taps
out maths assignments on animated education software
that she likens to a video game.
"It's comfortable," she says of Scholastic Corp's
FASTT Math software in which she and other students
compete for high scores by completing mathematical
equations. "This makes me learn better. It's
like playing a game," she says.
Education experts say her school, the Lilla G.
Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston, Mass.,
offers a glimpse into the future.
It has no textbooks. Students receive laptops at
the start of each day, returning them at the end.
Teachers and students maintain blogs. Staff and
parents chat on instant messaging software.
Assignments are submitted through electronic
"drop boxes" on the school's Website.
The experiment at Frederick began two years ago
at a cost of about $2 million. Class work is done
in Google Inc's free applications like Google Docs,
or Apple's iMovie and educational software like FASTT Math.
"Why would we ever buy a book when we can buy a computer?
Textbooks are often obsolete before they are even printed,"
says Debra Socia, principal of the school in Dorchester,
a tough district prone to crime.
There is one concession to the past:
a library stocked with novels.
"It's a powerful, powerful experience," adds Socia.
Average attendance rose to 94% from 92%;
discipline referrals fell 30 percent.
And parents are more engaged, she says.
"Any family can chat online with teacher and say,
'Hey, we're having this problem.'"
Unlike traditional schools, Frederick's students work
at vastly different levels in the same classroom.
The Internet is also a catalyst for change.
US enrolment in online classes reached 1 million
last year, 22 times the level seen in 2000, according
to the North American Council for Online Learning.
That's only the beginning, says Michael Horn,
executive director of education at Innosight Institute,
a nonprofit think tank in Massachusetts.
"Our projections show that 50% of high school courses
will be taught online by 2013. It's about 1%right now."
K12 Inc, which provides online educational services
in 17 US states, has seen enrolment rise 57%
from last year to 41,000 full-time students,
says its chief executive Ron Packard.
"We're getting the kids who the local school is
not working for. And the spectrum goes from extreme
special education to extremely gifted kids."
"You deliver education at lower cost, but you
will actually improve the amount of time that
a teacher can spend with each student because
they are no longer delivering one-size-fits-all
lesson plans," he says.
Image: Soar Centre, Tylacelyn Rd, Penygraig streetmap
Penygraig Community Christmas Fayre
Stalls selling Christmas gifts, jewellery,
cards, food and toys and Santa's grotto.
Valleys Kids,
Soar Centre,
Penygraig
date: 29th of November 2008
time: 11am-2pm
cost: Free
Information: Tammy 01443 420870
Email: tammy@valleyskids.org
Image: children dont like clowns
WALES AND ENGLAND "WORST IN WESTERN WORLD" TO THEIR CHILDREN.
(and it costs more than sending them to Eton !)
Children aged between 10 and 14 are being locked
up in England and Wales - increasingly for more
minor offences - MORE than in any other western
European country, the charity Barnardo's warns today.
A fivefold rise in child and youth custody sentences
over the past ten years has created an
"expensive and ineffective" criminal justice system.
This rise is happening even though there is no
increase in crime by children over the period,
and is causing youngsters to "be written off"
by the age of 12, Barnardo's says.
"We are almost alone in western society in routinely
incarcerating large numbers of children aged 10 to 14
who commit crime," says a report on child custody
by the charity, published today.
"The last decade has seen an unwarranted rise in
custody for children aged 10 to 14, most of whom
have not committed serious offences and who have
been failed by state agencies from an early age."
The annual cost of keeping a young person in a
secure children's home is £185,000. "The same
money could provide a child with an education
at Eton for six years," the report notes.
"If 10 to 14 year olds were sentenced to custody
only for committing grave crimes or violent offences,
the number placed in custody in 2006 would have
been cut from 572 to 104."
The study, "Locking up or giving up -
is custody for children always the right answer?"
points out that, before 1994, children in England
and Wales under 15 could be sentenced to custody
only if they had committed serious or violent offences
such as rape, assault or burglary. Successive legal
changes have made it easier for children to receive
custodial punishments for even summary offences.
Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo's:
"We should drastically reduce the use of custody.
Barnardo's is not naive: we recognise that children
committing grave crimes need to be incarcerated.
But the explosion in the use of custody for very
young children when youth offending has not been
growing is inexplicable, unjustifiable and unnecessary.
"It is often the most vulnerable young people in society
who end up in the criminal justice system.
Despite this, only 5% of the £445m spent by the
Youth Justice Board was invested in preventative work.
What sort of society are we which deems it appropriate,
last year alone, to imprison 572 children aged 14 or under,
none of whom had committed a serious crime?"
Barnardo's maintains that custodial sentences are
ineffective because 78% of 10 to 14 year olds
reoffend within 12 months of release. The charity
is calling for sentencing thresholds to be changed.
************************************
UK RE-OFFENDING RATES AMONG "HIGHEST IN THE WORLD"
A government briefing document, drawn up by
the Ministry of Justice and the Department for
Children, Schools and Families, says that around
25% of UK under-18s have committed an offence,
while reoffending rates are 'very high and have
not significantly changed' since 1997.
Harry Fletcher, of the probation union Napo;
"Labour policies on youth justice over the past decade
have resulted in a huge rise in children jailed.
It's to be welcomed that this policy is being revisited
so that more emphasis can be put on support and
education of the poorest children."
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform;
"Youth justice in the past 10 years is a tale of
the ineffectiveness of custodial crackdowns
that ignore the broader welfare context which is
absolutely necessary to tackle reoffending."
In Wales, the Afan Valley Project, in the '70s,
reduced recidivism by 94%, in an ex mining area.
This study - the most successful in the world -
has NEVER been replicated, and lies buried "on file."
Image: Hawthorn Leisure Centre, Pontypridd streetmap
An Evening of Christmas Music
Ctr Meibion Pontypridd, the Lewis Merthyr Brass Band
and local singer songwriter Kadesha perform in aid of
The Hawthorn Voluntary Playground Action Group.
Hawthorn Leisure Centre,
Fairfield Lane,
Pontypridd
date: 29th of November 2008
time: 7.30-11.30pm
cost: £5; Concessions £3
Information: 01443 662140
Image: Post Office logo bleeding
THE POST OFFICE IS BEING BLED
James Purnell, the work and pensions secretary,
delights MPs by announcing that he is scrapping
the two-year-old tendering process for the post
office card account (Poca), which distributes
benefits to 4.3 million claimants.
The move lifts the threat of closure from 3,000
post offices, mainly in rural areas. He refuses
to disclose the cost of the abandoned bidding process,
or the amount of compensation to thwarted private bidders.
The decision is part of moves by the Brown government
designed to restore Labour's popularity.
Other decisions include scrapping plans for 42-day
detention without trial, giving women greater pensions equality,
and reducing testing in schools.
The aim is to secure a 35% rating in the polls by spring,
as a springboard to win elections in early 2010.
The CWUnion says it is delighted by the decision,
and praises Lord Mandelson, the new business secretary,
for new thinking on the Post Office, including using
its trusted brand with poorer customers to offer
new financial services.
A CWU spokesperson says it would have been
"politically suicidal" for the government to
press ahead with branch closures.
Explaining the decision, Purnell blames the credit crunch,
and the trust vulnerable groups have in the
Post Office, rather than banks.
The DWP had said it was legally obliged to tender the contract.
Purnell says: "When the facts change,
the legal advice becomes different."
Purnell promises to boost advertising for the Poca,
and to see if credit unions can operate in post offices.
"The Post Office ... is seen as safe, secure and
reliable as a provider of financial services.
I believe that now cannot be the time for the government
to do anything that would put that network at risk,
particularly as post offices are often the only providers
of banking services in both rural and deprived urban areas."
The government was under massive political pressure:
2 million people had already signed a petition
and 265 MPs from all parties signed a motion
calling for Poca to stay with the Post Office.
In the letter to Gordon Brown Mandy says: "We
should examine the prospects for POL [Post Office Ltd]
becoming a much more significant player in financial services
- offering a wider range of attractive products
within easy reach of the whole population,
available from an institution they can trust."
The move is likely to surprise civil servants
in Wales, who had been busy "managing" its decline.
John McFall, chair of the Treasury select committee:
"Previously we had a superficial look at the case for the Post Office.
That it was a drain on resources.
But they should look at the Post Office
as a viable service provider with 95% reach.
"I'm glad to see that the government is considering
the Post Office playing a part in providing financial services
which will eventually allow the Post Office
to stand on its own two feet."
Last year the government - against massive opposition -
cut the government subsidy from £150m to £110m.
This was so unpopular that members of the government
openly campaigned against closures in their own constituencies.
At present, 2,500 post offices are due to close,
and some have already shut.
In his letter, Mandelson says:
"POL has two real strengths.
The first is the trusted 'post office' brand.
The second is the fact that it offers direct
physical contact across its widely accessible network
with the 24 million people who visit a post office each week.
"As recent figures show, many savers have
demonstrated their trust in the Post Office
by moving their savings into accounts it offers.
Similarly, the face-to-face contact which a post
office offers is becoming an increasingly important
and reassuring factor for many people -
especially when many private companies,
as well as many government agencies, are
seeking to reduce their own face-to-face contact points."
"Taken together I think all of these developments
offer POL, with our support, a genuine opportunity to
rebuild itself into a widely accessible, trusted provider
of a broader range of financial services."
Essex county council has recently reopened 15 post offices
by guaranteeing £1.5m for them to operate until 2011.
The proposed review by Mandelson will be separate
from the one by Richard Hooper, former chair of Ofcom.
All this comes after lobbies and demonstrations
across the political spectrum, open revolt by
ministers and top Civil Servants, and a huge wave
of discontent and anger from the public.
*************************************
As the Welsh Assembly Government announces its intention
to reinstate a post office development fund,
anger grows in North and mid Wales over closures...
The Post Office "announces" that 48 branches across north Wales
are to close, following a "consultation" period.
This is four fewer than the 52 earmarked for closure
when the initial list was unveiled in July.
Only one branch is saved outright -
Cerrigydrudion post office at Corwen, Denbighshire.
Another three will have a change to either their opening hours
or the services they have available.
There is a disgusted, "very angry" response from campaigners.
The company says it has "decided" to keep 271
branches across the north Wales area, but is
to go ahead with 48 closures, and 13 replacement "outreach services".
The outreach services could mean communities are
serviced with either mobile post offices, or a
post office is set up in a "premises" for
a few hours each week.
A further "review" is taking place into the future
of branches at Church Terrace, Llandudno Junction,
Llanfrothen and Llanfwrog.
Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Wales
Steve Geraty says the decisions had been
"difficult" and "not taken lightly".
"We have considered very carefully all the comments made
during the public consultation and we believe
the amended plan announced today offers our customers
the best prospect for a sustainable network
in the future. We need to look at the future
and the long term viability of all the remaining
branches in this area, especially in Cerrigydrudion.
I would like to appeal to all customers and businesses
across north Wales to support their local branch."
On Ynys Mon, news that Talwrn will lose its post office
is met with disgust by Ann Jones, who is
campaigning to keep it open.
"I feel incredibly angry, everyone here is in shock,"
she says. "I'm angry too at the way we have been
treated by the Post Office.
We have worked very hard to keep the post office open
and they have not listened.
This will be a huge loss to the village."
At Trawsfynydd opening hours will be cut.
Local Gwynedd councillor Tom Ellis: "I am glad it
is not closing but the hours will be halved.
I'm afraid that people will go elsewhere
and over time the service will deteriorate."
Clwyd West MP David Jones says he is also disappointed
that seven post offices in his constituency will close
but "relieved" Cerrigydrudion is not.
"The proposal to close that office, in a particularly
remote area and in an important local centre,
never made sense. The community in and around
Cerrigydrudion fought an effective battle to
keep their post office open and I am delighted
that their effort has paid off."
Wrexham MP Ian Lucas is "deeply saddened"
by the closure of four local post offices.
"The issue now is ensuring that as much business
as possible is transacted through Wrexham's
remaining post offices."
North Wales AM Janet Ryder: "Management has shown
no mercy, despite the vigorous community campaigns
to save these services. Villages across the north
will lose out."
Branches to close are:
Aberangell, Machynlleth; Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay:
Acton Park, Wrexham; Alexandra Road, Llandudno;
Bradley, Wrexham; Brynford, Holywell; Brynhedydd, Rhyl;
Bwlchtocyn, Pwllheli; Caergeiliog, Holyhead;
Carwel, Holywell; Carneddi, Bethesda;
Church Drive, Rhos-on-Sea; Clocaenog, Ruthin;
Cwm-y-Glo, Caernarfon; Cymau, Wrexham.
Deiniolen, Caernarfon; Four Mile Bridge, Holyhead;
Gerlan, Bethesda; Golftyn, Deeside; Grange Road, Rhyl;
Gronant, Prestatyn; Gwernmynydd, Mold;
Holyway Londis Stores, Holywell; Lixwm, Holywell;
Llaingoch Community Centre, Holyhead;
Llanbedrgoch; Llanbedrog, Pwllheli; Llandegfan;
Llandudno Road, Colwyn Bay; Llangian, Pwllheli;
Llanwnda, Caernarfon.
Marchwiel, Wrexham; Morfa, Morfa Conwy;
New Brighton, Mold; New Broughton, Wrexham;
Penmorfa, Porthmadog; Ponciau, Wrexham;
Pontybodkin Reflections Hairdressers, Mold;
Rhos y Medre, Wrexham; Sumerhill, Wrexham.
Talwrn Siop Isa, Llangefni; Talybont, Barmouth;
Tanyfron Llwyn Ifor Stores, Wrexham;
Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog;
Trefor, Llangollen; West End, Pwllheli.
AND THAT's JUST NORTH WALES !!!
This government has withdrawn so much funding
and business, it is bleeding the Post Office dry.
After being stripped of £168,000,000 worth
of government business,
post offices now make a £111,000,000 loss !
So they're closing the "uneconomic" ones. Heard THAT before?
If you'd like to join in campaigning to halt
this attack on our communities . . .
The closure programme is already facing fierce opposition.
North Wales Liberal Democrat regional assembly
member Eleanor Burnham says she is "appalled"
by the proposals, which, she argues, will
affect the elderly and vulnerable hardest.
One part of the proposals means communities
might have a mobile post office, or possibly
a post office being set up in a premises for
a few hours each week.
Ms Burnham: "Many rural villages will now lose
an integral part of the community structure
and it is the elderly and vulnerable who will be hardest hit.
The closure of post offices means that people
often have to travel quite a distance to get to
the post office, causing great inconvenience.
Losing a local post office will leave the elderly
and those with limited mobility feeling isolated."
Darren Millar, Conservative AM for Clwyd West:
"It is clear many communities in Conwy and Denbighshire
will now have a battle on their hands if they are
to keep the services which so many of them depend upon."
Plaid Cymru Caernarfon MP Hywel Williams MP:
"Our job is to make sure the people's voice is heard
as clearly as is possible..."
A series of meetings are held in his constituency.
Post Office Ltd's website is the main source
for information on the closure programme.
For further information or to respond to the public consultation,
you can write to Post Office Ltd at:
National Consultation Team,
Post Office Ltd,
FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM
Or Telephone:
08457 22 33 44
Or Email
consultation@postoffice.co.uk
(This email address is being protected from spam,
you need Javascript enabled to view it)
You can also contact Postwatch
(a tame consumer organization)
on 08456 013265
Or write to them at
FREEPOST POSTWATCH
or e-mail
info@postwatch.co.uk
TO CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVELY :-
Contact your MP... councillor...
the Assembly Government... the UK Government...
join with thousands and make your voice heard.
Image: clic02
Image: Allotments in Wales
DO YOU CARE? ARE YOU INTERESTED?
As food and fuel prices continue to rise, growing
fruit and vegetables is an excellent opportunity
to not only save money, but reduce food miles
and enjoy fresh, nutritious food. Whether you are
a complete beginner and interested in ‘growing
your own’, a community growing project or interested
in growing on a commercial scale, there is training
available that can help you to develop your skills.
The Welsh College of Horticulture offers a wide
range of courses in the production of horticulture
including ‘Start Gardening’ at Level 1
and ‘Organic Horticulture’ at Level 4/5.
The Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens
in Wales is promoting sustainable growing systems
within communities throughout Wales.
Katie Jones is the Development Officer for the Federation.
Robert Mackey, is a Lecturer in Horticulture.
A new method of studying offers flexibility
to attend at weekends and for occasional weeks
instead of needing to be at college every day.
This flexible route allows access to learning
for a wide range of people - especially those in work.
The reduced amount of attendances saves on
travel, costs, time, and your carbon footprint!
Currently provision is only on offer in North Wales.
Our purpose is to provide information and gauge
the level of interest in courses to - hopefully -
run "flexible route" courses in South Wales.
For further information please contact;
Katie Jones Development Worker FCFCG22
Ninian Park Road,
Cardiff
CF11 6JA
Tel: 02920 225942 / 07793669721
wales@farmgarden.org.uk
www.farmgarden.org.uk/
Robert MackeyLecturer in Horticulture,
WCOHNorthop,
Mold,
Flintshire.
CH7 6AA
01352 841000
Robert.mackey@wcoh.ac.uk
www.wcoh.ac.uk
*****************************
HUGE WAITING LISTS FOR ALLOTMENTS - "WE COULD SUE" !
Andrea Evans, secretary of the Wrexham Allotment Association:
"About seven years ago you couldn't give allotments away.
Now people want to know where their food is coming from
and a lot of people garden organically.
"Also the price of food is going up daily.
So to grow your potatoes, your carrots and so on,
helps the family. We're now seeing many more
families taking on allotments".
Wrexham Council has cut its waiting lists
by offering novice gardeners a quarter-size plot.
In some areas of Wales the numbers waiting are over 1,000.
Councils are bound by law to provide plots where there is a demand.
Allan Rees, chair, National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners;
"At some stage our members are going to want us to
take on an authority for not carrying out their duties
and responsibilities within the legislation.
We don't want to do that, obviously.
We have the finance to do it, but we don't want to do that.
We believe in talking first and hopefully resolving any issues.
"But I remind local authorities of Section 23 of the 1908 Allotments Act.
You need to provide allotments.
A thousand on a waiting list is no excuse."
That threat of legal action against councils
may have to be realised:
In Caia Park, Wrexham, a community-based organisation
has been founded to plan for 80 new allotments.
Fifteen hundred pounds of The Caia Community
Gardens Association's set up costs have been
paid by Wrexham Council.
Plaid Cymru Councillor Marc Jones:
"It's important that we do actually provide
something in terms of healthy living, healthy
eating, and also food has become very expensive.
I think we need to offer all these things.
But these are bright spots in an otherwise gloomy
picture of buck-passing and inaction.
The Chair of the UK Organisation for Allotments
is disappointed by the Assembly Government's
failure to get tough with those councils who
are not meeting their statutory obligations.
Allan Rees: "Surely it's for the government -
central government or the Welsh Government -
to say 'Look, you're breaking the law.
If you don't do something about it
then we will have to do something about it!'
And nothing seems to be coming from that area."
It is not only council run sites,
but privately owned allotments which are under threat.
The allotments at Rhiwderin near Newport are
over a century old, but are slated for closure.
In July this year Environment Minister Jane Davidson
made clear that where private landlords wish to close allotments,
the Assembly Government has the power to make a Compulsory Purchase Order
to buy the land and retain its existing use.
Allan Rees: "If the Welsh Assembly can compulsorily
purchase or compulsorily hire, my question to them is,
'Why aren't you doing it?'
"Because I know of at least three private sites
already that have gone. They've disappeared.
And once they've gone you'll never ever see them again.
Its time to stand up and be counted please!"
A spokesperson says the Assembly Government
"strongly supports allotments" but that their
provision is a matter for local authorities.
Legal action is now being prepared against a
council in England for not providing allotments
- and similar action could follow in Wales.
******************************
ENGLAND IS RUNNING OUT OF WATER...
English water companies have been asked to cut
the amount of water they take from rivers and
aquifers and find "alternative supplies".
The Environment Agency says widespread damage and
threats to wildlife, including precious chalk rivers
and wetlands, mean the present rate of extraction
is NOT sustainable, and warns of cut-offs.
The move raises the prospect of controversial schemes
including pumping water from Wales to English
energy-hungry desalination plants, and new reservoirs.
The Consumer Council for Water says customers face
price rises of up to £30 a year in the worst affected areas.
Deryck Hall, the council's policy manager, says
in the worst cases customers face the threat of
more hosepipe bans, more drought orders on businesses
like car washes and sports grounds, and water
supplies to homes running out.
"The threat to public supply is a big one," says Hall.
"We know there needs to be a balance between
the environment and public supply... but it
needs to be done in a very sensitive and pragmatic
way, and in some cases, unless the agency and companies
come together and work out what needs to be done, we
end up with some difficulties facing public water supply."
Rivers and groundwater are already tapped "to the limit".
The Environment Agency reviews of abstraction licences
owned by water companies, farmers and other businesses
the "habitats directive" review, looked at abstraction
points near protected sites, and found one in 10
are causing damage to habitats and wildlife.
A review of all 20,000 abstraction licences on rivers
and groundwater, finds that 15% are over-abstracted,
18% are over-licenced and pose a threat if quotas
are fully used, and a third are "on the limit".
Customers of the worst affected water companies
are expected to have to pay more. Problem areas
include those covered by Anglian Water, Southern
Water, Thames Water and South West Water.
Northumbria and Yorkshire have few or no cases of over-abstraction.
The most extreme problem is on the Lower Itchen river,
which supplies 740,000 Southern Water customers.
The company has been asked to reduce water withdrawal
by half this Summer, and says it will cost £70m-
£100m to replace the supply from this one site alone.
A company spokesperson says they are proposing
compulsory metering to reduce demand, but will need "other measures".
If "alternative supplies" are not found,
consumers face reductions in supplies to homes,
says Deryck Hall, Consumer Council for Water.
"They would see a reduction in pressure and possibly
a trickle of water coming through rather than
the full flow they are used to getting."
Ofwat will rule next year on how much companies
can increase bills. Any new charges will be from April 2010.
Some increases will be "U.K. wide" !
Image: apprenticeships logo
One Wales;- Welsh apprenticeships for the Valleys
A new apprenticeship scheme is being introduced
in some of Wales' poorest areas, with 14,000 training places.
£70m will be spent on improving the skills of the workforce.
The three-year project will target parts of Wales
which already receive money from the European social fund.
Deputy Minister for Skills, John Griffiths says
the scheme will "equip many thousands of people
with the skills they need to progress in employment,
meet the skills needs of employers and drive forward Wales' economy."
He adds: "One Wales makes a strong commitment to
increasing the number of apprenticeships in Wales.
This new Modern Apprenticeship project will help to
achieve our goals of ensuring 70% of working age
adults in Wales have qualifications equivalent to
level two or above and 80% have basic literacy skills by 2010."
In total, £40m of European cash will be targeted,
with the assembly government matching most of that.
The scheme, called Modern Apprenticeship World Class Skills,
will help raise skill levels for 22,500 people,
and provide 14,000 training places.
A further £3.5m will be spent on developing a Modern
Skills diploma offering more than a 1,000 people
the chance to improve vocational and managerial talents.
The Education Minister, Jane Hutt says:
"This is wonderful news for Wales -
investment in skills is investment in our future.
As a government we are committed to improving skill levels
and our 'Skills that Work for Wales' strategy sets out
our vision for raising the skill levels of Wales' workforce."
The Royal Welsh Show had its worst year for decades recently -
Welsh agriculture (especially in the valleys)
has been underperforming for over a hundred years.
Yet orchards are flourishing in North East Wales !
Time for new thinking for a brighter future ?
If you'd like to know more about apprenticeships in AGRICULTURE;- please paste this in your browser:
http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/list/apprenticeshipsdirectory
/agriculture/agriculturecropsandlivestock.htm
Image: gas is not clean
Contrary to what you think, gas is NOT clean,
is dangerous because odorless, and not detectable
when it (inevitably) leaks. That's why youngsters
were arrested, trying to stop it. Yes, in Wales !
What would YOU do,
to demonstrate love of life ?
An excellent video - The Story Of Stuff -
explores with humour, our planet and "our" "culture"... will you laugh?
To find out....
WATCH "THE STORY OF STUFF" ...
PRESS THE LINK ABOVE
**************************************
Pontypridd & District Friends of the Earth
are a locally based voluntary group
who work on local and national environmental issues...
They meet at:
Clwb y Bont,
85a Taff Street,
Pontypridd
time: 7.30pm
Free entry
**********************************
Saturday 6th December, in London,
International Day of Climate Action march
which will call for no third runway at Heathrow,
no new coal-fired power stations and no to biofuels
inasmuch as they affect food security.
Yes to Renewable Energy, Expansion of Public Transport,
Annual Binding Targets to cut emissions,
and an International Treaty to cap emissions.
Cardiff buses
will leave at 8am from the Museum steps,
tickets £16 waged and £7 concessions
phone Adam Johannes 07940 108146
or Email cardiffccc@hotmail.co.uk
Arranged by
Cardiff Campaign Against Climate Change.
*********************************************
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL NEWS !!!
The best news from this New Labour movement since DEVOLUTION !
The government is introducing a "Feed in Tariff !
Climate change minister Ed Miliband: "This decision
means that installing equipment like wind turbines,
solar panels or biomass heaters will be much more financially attractive.
It will make a real difference to families, communities
and businesses that want to generate their own energy."
Friends of the Earth campaigner Ed Matthew:
"This is not the feed-in tariff we were promised;
it's a giant legal loophole. The legislation put
forward by the government is vaguely worded and gives
no certainty to business that a feed will be introduced."
The government also announces financial support
for renewable heat. The Renewable Heat Incentive
- described as the first such initiative in Europe -
provides financial help for people who install
renewable heat generators or heat pumps.
IT MEANS... that the Boilerhouse on Penrhys will
be able to sell it's surplus energy generation for
THOUSANDS OF POUNDS... once we place solar and
wind/water energy at the building, in the NEXT YEAR !!! YIPPEE !!!
*******************************************
GEORGINA DOWNS DEFRA
An environmental campaigner is victorious
in her legal battle over the use of pesticides.
The high court rules that Georgina Downs,
who runs the UK Pesticides Campaign,
has produced "solid evidence" that people exposed to
chemicals used to spray crops suffer harm.
The court says the government is not complying with
a European directive designed to protect rural communities
from exposure to toxins. It says the environment department,
Defra, must reassess its policy and investigate the risks
to people who are exposed. Defra argued that
its approach to the regulation and control of
pesticides is "reasonable, logical and lawful".
Georgina, who lives on the edge of farmland near Chichester,
first launched her campaign in 2001.
The judge describes how she was first exposed to
pesticide spraying at the age of 11 "and began
to suffer from ill health, in particular flu-like
symptoms, a sore throat, blistering and other problems".
She says the government is failing to address the concerns
of people living in the countryside "who are repeatedly exposed
to mixtures of pesticides and other chemicals throughout
every year, and in many cases, like mine, for decades".
People are not being notified about what is about
to be sprayed near their homes and gardens, she says.
Mr Justice Collins rules that the 1986 Control of
Pesticides Regulations states that beekeepers
must be given 48 hours notice if pesticides
harmful to bees are to be used.
"It is difficult to see why residents should be in a worse position."
Downs says her seven-year battle is over "one of
the biggest public health scandals of our time".
She calls on Gordon Brown to block any Defra appeal.
"The government should now just admit that it got it wrong,
apologise and actually get on with protecting
the health and citizens of this country".
The case centres on the way the government
assesses the risk posed by pesticides.
The current method is based on occasional,
short-term exposure to a "bystander" and
assumes that individuals will be exposed to
an individual pesticide during a single pass.
Downs: "The judge has agreed with my long-standing charge
that this bystander model does not and cannot address
residents who are repeatedly exposed."
The model does not account for rural residents
exposed to mixtures of pesticides and other chemicals
"throughout every year and, in many cases
like my own, for decades".
"The fact that there has never been any assessment
of the risk to health for the long-term exposure
for those who live, work or go to school near
pesticide-sprayed fields is an absolute scandal,
considering that crop-spraying has been a
predominant feature of agriculture for over 50 years."
Downs' campaign collected evidence from residents
who report health problems including cancer,
Parkinson's disease, ME and asthma, which they
claim can be linked to crop-spraying.
The judge says defects in Defra's approach to
pesticide safety contravene a 1991 EC directive.
He says Hilary Benn, the environment secretary,
"must think again and consider what needs to be done".
A Defra spokesperson: "We will look at this
judgment in detail to see whether there are
ways in which we can strengthen our system
further and also to consider whether it could
put us out of step with the rest of Europe
and have implications for other member states."
The European parliament's environment committee
last week approved new ways of assessing the risk
of potentially hazardous sprays to protect crops and plants.
This is part of an attempt to halve the use of
toxic products in European farming by 2013.
A final vote is due next month or in January.
Georgina Downs was first exposed to pesticide
spray in 1984 when she was 11.
She suffered years of ill health, and after
study into possible causes, founded the UK
Pesticide Campaign in 2001.
A video of a picnic in her garden, regularly
drenched in pesticide spray, helps make her case.
She is joint winner of the Andrew Lees Memorial Award
at the 2006 British Environment and Media Awards.
****************************************
FUNGUS FUEL FOREVER !!!
A fungus, called Gliocladium roseum, discovered
growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia)
in northern Patagonia, produces a range of long-
chain hydrocarbon molecules virtually identical
to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels.
Details are published in the November issue of
"Microbiology".
Strobel: "The results were totally unexpected
and very exciting and almost every hair on my
arms stood on end."
Strobel says the chemical mixture produced by this fungus
could be used in a modern diesel engine without any modification.
Strobel says his discovery also raises questions
about how fossil fuels were made in the first place.
"The accepted theory is that crude oil, which is
used to make diesel, is formed from the remains
of dead plants and animals that have been exposed
to heat and pressure for millions of years.
[But] if fungi like this are producing mycodiesel
all over the rainforest, they may have contributed
to the formation of fossil fuels."
*********************************************
UK RUINING EEC GREEN PLANS BY EXCLUDING AVIATION:
BIG BUSINESS "WRECKERS" ACCUSED OF CONTROLLING GOVT.
Claude Turmes, the MEP leading negotiations on
renewable energy laws for the European parliament,
says that if the latest UK government moves to
have aviation exempted succeed..... it will hugely
reduce the overall renewables contribution in Europe.
"I find it outrageous. PM Brown came here
and said he would stick to the 20%.
Now his civil servants in Brussels are not following that.
They are trying to dilute the target in the directive
- they are attacking it.
On climate change we need to act quickly - I get
a bit desperate about what will be the image of
politicians in 20-30 years if we fail to act."
Mr Turmes says the UK is the major opponent.
He says the government is heavily influenced by big business.
John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace,
says he believes BERR cannot be trusted.
"Every time Europe comes close to finalising this
vital renewable energy deal to save the climate,
John Hutton (the Secretary of State who heads BERR)
is there with his wrecking ball.
Stripping out aviation would unravel the whole agreement...
Gordon Brown should step in and save Britain's
reputation on climate change."
Over the past 18 months BERR has:
Lobbied against the 20% renewables target.
Negotiated a reduction to 15% for the UK.
Tried to get nuclear and carbon capture coal
categorised as renewable energy. ( ! )
Argued that funding for renewable energy projects abroad
should be able to count toward UK targets. ( !*! )
Mr Turmes says he believes the UK is under pressure
from firms trying to promote nuclear and coal-
fired power stations. The government says "no, it's not".
***********************************
ONE meat-free meal... PER WEEK
The world's leading authority on global warming
says, if you want to make a really effective difference
to tackle climate change, have one meat-free day a week.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair, UN Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, says people might then go on
to reduce their meat consumption further.
Pachauri says diet change is critically important
because of the emissions and habitat destruction
associated with rearing cattle and other animals.
It is easier to change eating habits compared to
changing means of transport, he says.
The UN estimates that meat production causes one
fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, and
warns that meat consumption is set to double
by the middle of this century.
"In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility
of bringing about reductions in a short period of time,
it clearly is the most attractive opportunity.
Give up meat for one day initially, and
decrease it from there."
The average UK person eats 50g of protein from meat a day,
25-50% more than World Heath Organisation guidelines.
Professor Robert Watson, chief scientific adviser
for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs;
"Eating less meat would help, there's no question about that..."
*************************************
SCIENTISTS PANIC - POLITICIANS FLUFF !
Political inaction on global warming has become
so dangerous that nations must now consider
extreme solutions - such as blocking out the sun -
to reverse catastrophic temperature rises,
scientists from around the world warn this week.
Dr Alice Bows of the Tyndall Centre for Climate
Change Research at the University of Manchester:
"I'm not a huge fan of messing with the atmosphere
in an geo-engineering sense because there could
be unpredictable consequences. But there are
also a lot of unpredictable consequences of
temperature increase. It does appear that we're
failing to act. And if we are failing to act,
then we have to consider some of the other options."
Scientists have suggested creating areas of oceanic algae
to absorb carbon dioxide, or creating "artificial clouds".
In today's edition of the society's journal,
Bows says politicians have significantly underestimated
the scale of the climate challenge.
Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth:
"We can't afford to wait for magical geo-engineering
solutions to get us out of the hole we have dug ourselves into.
The solutions that exist now, such as a large-scale energy
efficiency programme and investment in wind, wave and solar power,
can do the job if we deploy them at the scale and urgency that is needed."
**********************************************
WHAT D'YOU THINK OF IT SO FAR?
No one in the world knows what should be done
with the tens of thousands of tons of garbage,
which appear every day. If mankind does not
find a method to process its own garbage,
disaster will follow over the next few years.
60 million tons of household garbage have been dumped
on Bordo Poniente, Mexico, in 13 years !
It's the biggest lump of rubbish in the world -
second only to the Plastic Soup in the Pacific
– the floating dump of up to 100 million tons of rubbish
which covers one million square kilometers.
Ecologists say that the Mexican landfill's
decomposing products leach into subterranean
waters, making them absolutely unusable.
The international community does not have a clue
about how to solve the recycling problem.
An average person produces 350 kilos a year.
10% of this is burnt, 80% is buried, and the
remaining 10% is left on the ground surface.
Humans throw out up to 2.1 trillion tons of
garbage a year. And this figure grows every year.
Specialists say that the rubbish problem
is as serious as the problem of global
warming or nuclear weapons.
*************************************
REPORT ARGUES FOR REFORESTATION AND PEATLAND.
The report published by Policy Exchange and entitled,
The Root of the Matter: Carbon Sequestration in Forests and Peatlands,
argues that preventing deforestation and stopping
peatland destruction are some of the cheapest and
most effective ways of reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions. These methods of reducing emissions
are dramatically cheaper than all other options
currently available – as low as US$0.1 per tonne of CO2.
************************
Prince Charles warns in a major Daily Telegraph interview,
that "industrial" farming is moving the world towards
"the biggest disaster, environmentally, of all time".
Courageously, the prince accuses "gigantic corporations"
of "conducting a gigantic experiment with nature,
and the whole of humanity, which has gone seriously wrong".
"We end up with millions of small farmers all over the world
being driven off their land into unsustainable,
unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations
of unmentionable awfulness."
"What we should be talking about is food security,
not food production - that is what matters,
and that is what people will not understand.
"And if they think it's somehow going to work
because they are going to have one form of clever
genetic engineering after another, then count me out
because that will be guaranteed to cause
the biggest disaster environmentally of all time."
"Look at Western Australia; Huge salinisation problems.
I have been there, seen it;- some of the
excessive approaches to modern agriculture."
************************************
GREEDY BRITAIN DESTROYING THE WORLD.
Not only do we export guns to corrupt governments,
deliberately starting illegal wars and smashing
"third world" countries agriculture by "dumping"..
but also, a report published today by the WWF
shows that the U.K. is stealing the world's water,
up to the point that "we" are exporting drought.
UK Water Footprint calculates for the first time
how much water British consumers use, not just
directly, but also indirectly due to the large
volumes required to produce the globally-sourced,
all year round foods and textile fibres we buy.
According to WWF, each UK resident uses 4,645
litres of the world's water every day, compared
to people in poor countries who subsist on 1,000
litres of "virtual water" a day.
We take 62% of our water needs from other countries,
importing most from Brazil, France, Ireland,
Ghana, and India thanks to our consumption of
meat, soya, oil seed, rice, coffee, tea and cocoa.
Most of the countries from which we import,
now have acute water shortages.
Stuart Orr, WWF's water footprint expert and
joint author of the report, predicts water will
"emerge as a profound issue for our generation in Britain".
"There are so many local water crises globally
and when that comes together with climate change
and population growth, we are setting ourselves
up for a real fall."
Just one example;- the UK imports out-of-season
fruits and vegetables from Morocco, but it takes
13 litres of water to grow one tomato in that country.
Overpumping of Morocco's aquifers in the main
agricultural region has resulted in the water
table dropping 20 metres in 35 years. By 2020,
at current rates, groundwater will be exhausted.
***************************************
G.M. POPLAR TREES "NOT POPULAR"
As the coal-fired power plant demo runs down,
we learn that U.K. "scientists" are applying to
plant a group of genetically modified trees on
land owned by the Forestry Commission.
A group of "researchers" from the University of Southampton
want to establish a settlement of GM poplar trees
to "carry out research into biofuels".
A spokesperson for the Forestry Commission:
"I'm aware that researchers from the University of Southampton
have applied to plant some GM poplar on our land.
We're still considering their request, but
haven't given a definitive answer."
The plantation could be the first attempt to insert GM trees
into the UK since 1999, when activists uprooted 115 plants in Berkshire.
*****************************
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY IN U.S.
TELLS ITS OWN STAFF TO "SHUT UP"
The Senate environment committee chair, Barbara Boxer,
accuses the EPA chief, Stephen Johnson, of kowtowing
to industry opponents of carbon regulations.
"Stephen Johnson is turning the EPA into a secretive,
dangerous ally of polluters instead of a leader
in the effort to protect the health and safety
of the American people," Boxer, from California, says.
************************
BRITAIN CAUGHT RED-HANDED !
Gordon Brown publicly pledged last month
a "green revolution" based on clean technology.
Yet - behind the scenes - Britain is trying to
water down tough new European legislation to
boost the uptake of renewable energy.
The UK wants to block giving renewable electricity sources
such as wind farms, priority access to the national grid.
Britain now stands accused of "obstructing" the EU's future
just because it wants to protect traditional energy suppliers'
such as coal, gas and nuclear power stations.
Claude Turmes, MEP and writer of the EU directive, says:
"This would take us backwards and would weaken
the possibilities of connecting renewable energy
to the grid. A government that says it wants to
promote renewables cannot go for other policies
behind the scenes."
The draft directive says: "Member states SHALL
also provide for priority access to the grid system
of electricity produced from renewable energy sources".
Britain wants to change "shall" to "may", which experts
say would seriously undermine the directive.
A lack of connections to the national grid, is
stalling the uptake of alternative energy in Britain
and means completed wind farms across Scotland are idle.
A recent report from the Select Committee on Innovation,
Universities, Science and Skills says 9.3GW of wind power
projects were currently waiting to be connected -
the power of a whole new generation of nuclear power stations.
Gordon Brown said he would remove "without delay
the barriers that currently prevent renewable
generators connecting to the national grid".
British officials are tabling "several" amendments
to the draft directive, all weakening it,
on the grounds that renewables are "intermittent"!
Turmes says other countries are experiencing no problems
giving priority to clean energy, and large scale
renewables such as offshore wind are no more
"intermittent" than existing energy sources.
Turmes: "This is not a technical problem.
Britain just does not want to make the choice
to promote renewables, and that means it is lining up
with the worst countries in Europe on this issue."
Turmes claims the UK is influenced by energy companies.
"The incumbent operators want to make life difficult for newcomers."
John Sauven, of Greenpeace: "We've always said
there was a danger that going for nuclear power
would squeeze out renewables. The government has
been caught red handed undermining clean energy,
and all because of Brown's ideological obsession with atomic power."
****************************
SMART AS DYE !!!
Windows could be used as solar panels
with a new technology that concentrates the sun's rays.
The technique uses transparent dyes to capture,
concentrate and redirect light along the surface
of glass to photovoltaic cells in the frame.
The breakthrough means a tenfold increase in power output.
"The team", from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
claims this slashes the cost of electricity from sunlight,
making it highly competitive with standard grid power.
The expensive PV cells only need to be installed at the sides
of panels, rather than across the whole surface.
Marc Baldo, an electrical engineer at MIT;
"The concentrator collects light over its whole front surface,
but the solar cells need only cover the area of the edges."
Solar panels, therefore, would need 100 times
fewer PV cells to collect the same energy.
"So we can save money. Since industry can't
produce enough solar cells to satisfy demand,
this might also be a good way to stretch production."
As well as windows, the technique can be applied
to standard solar panels on roofs and walls to
improve their efficiency.
"We think the technology should cost less than $1 per watt," says Baldo.
The researchers claim it can be commercially
available within three years.
Baldo says any transparent material could be used.
"In the window application you'd probably design
the window for 10% transmission. The remaining 90%
is captured and used to generate electricity."
An immediate use of the concentrator technology
could be to coat conventional solar panels on
building roofs, to boost their light collecting ability.
Baldo; "We think that ultimately this approach
will allow us to nearly double the performance
of existing solar cells for minimal added cost."
Greenpeace's Doug Parr: "Innovations like this
show renewable technologies can take a quantum
leap forward if given proper financial support
from governments. Rather than betting the farm
on outdated nuclear technology and hoping that
coal will one day be 'clean', Gordon Brown
should be creating green jobs and pushing at the
real technological frontier of the 21st century - renewables."
************************
CONFIDENCE IN BIOFUELS? OOPS !
A "confidential" World Bank report flatly contradicts
the USUK claim that plant-derived fuels contribute
less than 3% to food-price rises, and puts huge
pressure on to stop