[The Print] UNESCO accepts Palestine; United States pulls funding

This originally appeared in The Print, Volume 3, Issue 4. 

Palestine wants to talk. They have said on several
occasions they are willing to enter into peace
talks with Israel. The US and the international
community want them to talk. Preventing this is
the fact that Israel is continuing to build houses on
occupied land which is illegal under international
law. They are in full control of entering the Gaza
strip and activists wishing to visit it have to lie at the
airport and pretend to be pilgrims.

The Gaza Strip has been described as the largest
open air prison in the world. Egypt has recently
loosened controls on the boarder into the Gaza
strip which is helping. The west bank has similar
problems, as well as east Jerusalem.

The state of Palestine is recognized by some
countries including Ireland, but it is not recognized
by the UN.

UNESCO, or the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization voted to accept
Palestine as a state. This proved very controversial,
as it meant the USA has withdrawn funding from
UNESCO, which was around 20& of it’s total
funding.

Obama has said they cannot support it until there
is a peace agreement with Israel. This is funny for
many reasons, the main one is that Israel hasn’t
left UNESCO. The Law which Obama used as a
justification for this action doesn’t explicitly ban
UNESCO from recognizing the current Palestinian
state, and he would be legally free to continue this
funding.

Palestine is attempting to be recognized by the
UN security council, however America has said it
will veto this move.

Presidential Youth Debate SpunOut.ie #YouthRising #aras11

Can everyone please watch and share this video, let's have an informed discussion on the presidential election

I am Troy Davis

Before he died, Troy Davis sent the following message to his supporters:

"The struggle for justice doesn't end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me. I'm in good spirits and I'm prayerful and at peace."

Today is a sad day for anyone who believes in justice. R.I.P Troy Davis. We will not forget.

[TED Tuesday] Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities and corporations

Little Brother Review

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Little Brother is 1984 for the Internet age, written as a young adult book, but something that everyone should read. It covers issues of terrorism, freedom, government spying and the role of technology. The fact that nearly everything in the book is technically viable now means that it's a chilling political statement of how important it is that we keep what our government does in check.



View all my reviews

[TED Tuesday] Bruce Schneier: The security mirage

Bruce Schneier is one of the leading security experts in the world, everyone should listen to this talk, really puts security into perspective. It takes 20 minutes, but is very worthwhile.

My comments in support of the flotilla movement

On a post in thejournal.ie about Israel deporting activists

"Hi Seamus,

Sadly the only misinformed person in this conversation is you. 

I comprehend very well that it isn't a black and white situation.  I understand that Israel is suffering from rocket attacks and that Hamas is a problem.  But denying the population their rights, engaging in collective punishment (international committee of the Red Cross) and attempted ethnic cleansing isn't going to fix this problem.  The siege of Gaza and the continued splitting of the west bank into smaller pieces by Israeli only roads is only pushing people into extremism.

Let me be very clear about this, the only thing I am against is Israeli government policy.  I support a full boycott sanctions and divestment campaign with a full economic, cultural and academic boycott, and when Israel complies with international law and enters negotiations fully, then these sanctions should be fully lifted. 

Calling me anti-Semitic is a Reductio ad Hitlerum.  I am only against the government policy.  I think it is very sad that Jewish people suffered so much in WWII and now they are treating the Palestinian people so badly. 

As to the attack on the Flotilla, first of all using the IMF to force Greece to hold up most of the ships was shameful both for Israel and the IMF.  The sabatash on the Irish ship could have killed all on board.  There was a time that such an action would have caused outrage.  After all, what is the point of the Irish flag, if we let attacks on our ships go unanswered.  This is fundamentally disrespectful to Irish sovereignty.  We did basically nothing when Mossad agents abused Irish passports.  

I'm glad you mentioned the IRA, as there are a lot of similarities to Palestine and NI.  Initial ocupation of a country:  Check.  Government arming citizens against a group in society, check.  State sponsored terrorism against the oppressed group, check.  Oppressed group turning to violence as a last resort:  check.  I hope it has a similar peaceful resolution as the Good Friday agreement. "

On the UK Huffington Post launched.

Image via Wikipedia

I know there is a lot of controversy about this, getting people to write for free, but I don't think it's much of a big deal. If you choose to contribute something to a media source, without pay, and get to promote either your blog or upcoming book, then that's your choice, if you want to be paid then don't contribute. Perhaps not surprisingly, The Guardian has given the HuffPo a cool reception, as it thinks the AOL subsidiary is going to be a source of competition.

The problem I have with the HuffPo is that it is so big. There are hundreds of posts per day, so keeping on top of it was to hard and I unsubscribed to the American version. I'll be keeping an eye on the UK version, but It really should have more options in it's feeds. I'm in a situation that my Google Reader has 1000+ unread for probably the last year.

As a political hack, and member of Labour, I'm excited to see that Alastair Campbell is contributing. There are also some Irish bloggers, so I look forward to seeing how this develops.

Check it out

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

[TED Tuesday] Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days

So I haven't been blogging for a while, but I watched this video, and it has inspired me. I'm aiming to publish a Blog post every day for 30 days.

#Cheltenham, day 2

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

My new addiction is horse racing. After the first day of Cheltenham I'm in the black. Had some winners including Hurricane Fly and a few each ways which came in 3rd. So here's what I'm thinking on day 2. I'm no expert, follow this advice at your own risk.

The website I'm getting these odds from is PaddyPower.ie. I must complement them for having a very usable, well designed website.

First up is the 1:30 National Hunt Chase
Alfa Beat 7/2 odds, think this horse is everyone's favourite, I'll be betting this to win and thinking of putting Arabella Boy each way

Next is the 2:05 Neptune Novices' Hurdle
With Ruby Walsh on a winning streak, I'd say So Young will get the win, thinking of Oscars Well and Rock On Ruby for each way bets. First Lieutenant could surprise us as well, might put a bit on him too.

And at 2:40, we have the RSA Chase
Not really sure here, Time For Rupert is the favourite, Think I'll put something each way on Mikael Dhaguenet, we'll see if Ruby's winning streak continues. The Guardian are tipping each way on Wayward Prince, might do that as well

3:20 Queen Mother Champion Chase
Big Zeb 3/1 and Master Minded 7/2
Between these 2, I'm going to put money on Master Mind to win, we'll see how the Ruby Factor is holding up
Golden Silver is in with a shot, might go each way

4:00 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
Aegean Dawn and Call The Police have the same odds of 11/2, Aegean Dawn had better form, but Call The Police is riden by Ruby Walsh. Haven't Decided which to back yet, will see how well Ruby is doing over the day.

4:40 Fred Winter Juvenile H'cap Hurdle
Don't know either, Plan A and Tenor Nivernais are pritty even,

5:15 Champion Bumper
No idea, will pick one at random

So that's what I think, we'll see how much money I make, might do another one tomorrow.