Sam PF's Journal
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Sam PF" journal:[<< Previous 10 entries]
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01:37 am
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Strike out
A deal was reached today to end the mass hunger strike of nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners, brokered by Egypt.
Israel has agreed to end solitary confinement of 19 prisoners, allow family visits to prisoners from Gaza which had been stopped since the capture of Gilad Shalit by Hamas (released last October); and, on the crucial issue of administrative detention, agreed that once those currently on it have reached the end of their six month sentence (handed down without charge or trial), they will be released unless brought to court.
How this plays out remains to be seen, and I wouldn't put it pass Israel to renege on that or find some way round it. (Or re-arrest people, as they did Hana Shalabi, a previous hunger striker released under the deal that freed Shalit). But it's a fantastic achievement, bought with an almost unimaginable level of sacrifice.
Seems the Palestinians have finally found a weapon Israel doesn't have an answer to.
So now all they have to do is for the entire population of the Occupied Territories to go on hunger strike until Israel agrees to end the occupation. </sarcasm>.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is seeking to evict 12 communities of Palestinian cave-dwelling farmerss from their land near Hebron in the West Bank, which has been designated a military training area. The real motive may be to build illegal Israeli settlements there. (The settlers near Hebron are the most batshit crazy and hate-filled of the lot, doing their level best to make their Palestinian neighbours' life a misery, with violent assaults and, as the article reports, tactics such as poisoning wells.)
Want, take, have. The Zionist way.
Tags: palestine
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01:40 am
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Hunger strikes reaching critical
First there was Khader Adnan, then there was Hana Shalabi - Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, held under 'Administrative Detention', indefinite detention without charge or trial or any knowledge of the evidence putting you there, who went on hunger strike in protest, and were eventually released at the 11th hour, as they approached the point of death.
Then there were another 29 Palestinian prisoners joining the hunger strike. And then, since mid-April, close to 2000 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike, demanding an end to the practice of Administrative Detention, and better conditions for Palestinian prisoners in general.
It is an extraordinary act of mass non-violent resistance. (Though apparently, for I could not resist my curiousity on the point, not the biggest mass hunger strike ever; an Oxford historian studying Suffragette and Irish Republican hunger strikes mentions one such strike involving 7800 prisoners, which I presume must have been from the latter group).
Two of the prisoners, who have been on hunger strike for over 70 days, have been moved to hospital and are in imminent danger of death. The Israeli Supreme Court rejected their appeal against Administrative Detention.
This is a potentially game-changing event, but one that is getting very little coverage in the western media. (The BBC is providing some coverage, but generally pretty well buried.)
I guess if a striker dies that will be news.
Various internet actions around, in Britain and the US. Also a petition from Jewish Voice for Peace.
Tags: israel, palestine
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12:09 am
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Number crunching
Got back today from my trip to the US for the launch of SIPRI's military expenditure data for 2011.
A good trip, though pretty exhausting. I presented the data in six subtly different ways to six separate audiences in Washington, DC and New York - all went well; our own launch event had about 60-70 people at it, while the side event at the UN we did with UNODA and the Japanese Permanent Mission had about 80. Meanwhile the media launch got covered in over 2000 separate outlets, so I think we can call this a success.
For those who have not already clicked on the link, the estimated world total for 2011 was $1738 billion; it was the first time since 1998 that the total hasn't increased noticeably in real terms (i.e. after inflation). The observant amongst you might notice that the press release talks about 13 continuous years of increase, although it is only 12 years from 1998 to 2010. Yes, it is indeed so - I officially can't count. ;-)
Anyway, 'twas a busy schedule, but it was not all work - visited the relatives briefly, spent the afternoon following our launch on Tuesday drinking beer with a colleague who happened to be over and came along, and spent much of Saturday mooching around Manhattan.
Now very tired and jet-lagged.
Tags: family, military expenditure, sipri, travel, work
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02:00 am
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Many meetings
Ah well, the posting every day thing fell off rather towards the end. Still, posted way more than had been my habit.
Easter was good - didn't do a great deal. Went to the English Church in Stockholm, part of the C of E Diocese of Europe, for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Kind of wanted something reasonably familiar for Easter. Seems a good place, and very good music in particular. Don't know if it's where I'll end up yet.
Anyway, tomorrow I am off to the US, Washington DC and New York, for the launch of SIPRI's military expenditure data for 2011. Very exciting. SIPRI has just launched our new SIPRI North America branch, so we're doing a series of events in conjunction with them - the data launches in particular - to make a bit of a splash Stateside.
Apart from our own launch event, I will be doing presentations at the World Bank, a UN side-event, the US State Department, and a group of peacenik academics at a New York uni. (Somehow I think I'll enjoy the last one most).
Plus I will, albeit briefly, get to visit the family in Croton-on-Hudson and New Haven.
What with the likely substantial number of info requests from journalists, promises to be a busy week, but hopefully stuff should calm down after that.
Tags: family, military expenditure, religion, sipri, travel, work
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03:01 am
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Hunger games
Palestinian hunger striker Hana Shalabi, whose case I wrote about last month, has agreed to end her hunger strike after 44 days after a deal that will see her released, but exiled to the Gaza Strip. Her condition had been deteriorating severely when the deal was reached.
According to some reports, there are now 29 other Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, most held, like Hana Shalabi, under Administrative Detention - indefinite detention without charge or trial.
So, there's now a way out for Palestinian prisoners - starve yourself to the very brink of death, and the wonderful humanitarians that are the Israeli government might just release you rather than face the bad publicity your death would cause.
Yay?
Tags: israel, palestine
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01:18 am
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Racism kills
European countries may have less vigilantes roaming around their neighbourhoods with firearms, and no "Stand your ground" type laws, but we don't get to feel remotely superior over the Treyvon Martin case.
Migrants left to die after catalogue of failures
A boatload of 72 African migrants fleeing Libya last May was left to drift for two weeks in the Mediterranean without any rescue attempt, despite numerous distress calls, and despite the waters being constantly patrolled by NATO warships taking part in the war in Libya. Sixty three of the passengers died.
According to the report due out tomorrow from the Council of Europe, there were 'human and institutional' failures all round, by NATO, by the various Coastguards whose distress calls were ambiguous, by military and commercial vessels, and a whole bunch of others.
Who knows exactly which individuals bore the greatest responsibility, and what role race played in their motivations and failures. Very likely no-one deliberately decided to let a whole bunch of human beings die.
But one thing you can be darned well sure of. It wouldn't have happened if they had been white. It wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been poor and from Africa, the refuse of the earth coming to pollute our nice, clean, civilized European shores.
1,500 African migrants died in the Mediterranean last year.
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12:42 am
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Church hunting
This morning I went to the main 11am service at Katarina Kyrka, the nearest (or equal nearest) Svenska Kyrkan (Church of Sweden) church to me on Södermalm. I have another picture of it, from way back, here.
Actually, the nearest church to me is Sofia Kyrka, on the hill in the park down the road from me, which is a gorgeous building, but sadly currently closed for renovations. The congregation is meeting at another church a bit further away for now. But Katarina is just 10 minutes walk away.
I've been reading up on the C of S, and so far have liked what I've seen. They have women bishops, and perform same-sex marriages, and have a strong focus on social justice and development issues. They're just now having a theme week across Södermalm on Hunger, physical and spiritual.
They're also, despite being a Lutheran church, quiet catholic in some ways. See, they had a somewhat different history to the German Lutheran churches, coming into being when King Gustav Vasa decided that the Swedish church would no longer accept the authority of Rome. A little like in England, except it was over the Pope refusing his choice of bishops, rather than wanting an annullment. Then latest they adopted the Lutheran credo. But they still have bishops, and indeed can claim Apostolic Succession (though they don't seem to make a thing of that), they have a fairly liturgical structure to some services (my hymn book had liturgies for various types of service, including a 'high mass' (Högmässa), which would not be that unfamiliar to an Anglican, say), and they have a strong adherence to the liturgical year. The church had candles and a crucifix in it. They also, so I'm told, have a 'high' church end. I talked to a guy at work who goes to the Svenska Kyrka (though he's American), and who knows a priest in the C of S, and he'll ask about the different congregations in Stockholm for me.
Also, they are in full communion with the Church of England as part of the Porvoo Communion.
Anyway, to the service. This one was somewhat freer form, but I'm OK with that sometimes at any rate. Started off with a Taizé chant. Good, and varied music - some congregational hymns, some by the choir (who were very good), a guy with a guitar singing a couple of songs in English - one was a rather bluesy-country version of Amazing Grace, the other I couldn't understand very well despite it being in English, but nice tune. The 'Behold the Lamb of God' from Handel's Messiah by the choir at communion. The one minus point on the music is that the congregation remained seated for all the hymns.
Good sermon. Ironically, it was a fairly Mary-themed service, being the feast of the Annunciation. They had a girl of about the right age (i.e. early teens) reading out the Gospel. Which was at the start of the service, after the opening hymn. Like I said, quite free-form. Generally understood most of what was going on in Swedish.
I received communion. I asked one of the stewards beforehand if it was OK to, as a Christian but not a member of the C of S, and she replied "You are most welcome", which I count as a definite plus over the RC attitude (though I sort of understand it).
After the service they served brunch in the parish hall. Very nice soup. The people at the table I sat at actually talked to me, which is astonishing considering this is Sweden, and specifically Stockholm.
I will not yield to the temptation to give it marks out of 10, as that is not the right attitude. Generally positive vibes, not entirely sure if it is where I will stay. There are other C of S churches to try, and I will also try the English Church (Anglican) in Stockholm, and perhaps the Methodists. Perhaps the English Church last, want to get a feel for the ones in Swedish, as if I start going to services in English I'll get lazy and stick with that.
So, thus begins my new adventures in catholicy-protestantism.
And just something to leave you with. The Porvoo Communion has a Porvoo Research Network, or PoReNe. Srsly. Oh dear. Now I've got "The internet is for..." in my head. I am so going to hell.
Tags: religion, stockholm
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02:05 am
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Book recs
Gaaaaahhh, pointless up-late-staying again. Stupid.
Two fantasy authors I have been reading lately (past year or so), and would thoroughly recommend.
Joe Abercrombie - one trilogy, the "First Law" trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings, and two stand-alones set in the same universe, Best Served Cold and The Heroes, but which can both be read without having read the earlier works.
Gritty, cynical and subversive are the terms most often used for Abercrombie. He takes high fantasy tropes and upends them, and you repeatedly find yourself reading a story different to the one you thought you were reading. Like GRR Martin, he has an ability to take some of the most appalling, unpleasant characters you could hope to find, and make them at least in some respect sympathetic.
One Conservative critic, Leo Grin in "The Bankrput Nihilism of Our Fallen Fantasists" (can't find actual article, links just seem to go to Breitbart front page), slated Abercrombie for what he and his ilk were doing to the fantasy genre, injecting far too much cynicism, losing the good vs evil world of Tolkien, and generally perpetrating "postmodern blasphemies against our mythic heritage".
Abercrombie himself was particularly pleased with this quote from the article:
Think of a Lord of the Rings where, after stringing you along for thousands of pages, all of the hobbits end up dying of cancer contracted by their proximity to the Ring, Aragorn is revealed to be a buffoonish puppet-king of no honor and false might, and Gandalf no sooner celebrates the defeat of Sauron than he executes a long-held plot to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, and you have some idea of what to expect should you descend into Abercrombie’s jaded literary sewer.
Which is actually remarkably apposite. It certainly requires a strong stomach a lot of the time.
Possibly my favourite is the latest one, The Heroes, which is possibly the best anti-war novel I've ever written, set over three days of a single battle. A key quote, from probably the most sympathetic character to another major POV character: "I thought you were a good man. But you're not. You're a hero". (OSLT).
The second - much lighter - author is Ben Aaronovitch, who has produced two novels so far, Rivers of London and Moon over Soho. They are urban fantasy, and particularly appeal to me for their lovingly detailed London setting. (Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner...). One unusual and pleasing feature is that it features a non-white hero, Peter Grant, a rookie cop who takes a witness statement from a ghost and subsequently becomes apprenticed to the Metropolitan Police's (and possibly Britain's) last known wizard. In the first book, Grant and his mentor have to solve a gruesome series of magically-related murders, while also dealing with a feud between Mother Thames and Father Thames, local deities with the tidal and non-tidal parts of the river as their respective domains, and their various 'offspring', the eponymopus Rivers of London. The second book involves jazz vampires.
Fast-paced, well-characterized, imaginative, generally a lot of fun. Some elements of fail, but IMO not too many, and some definite elements of anti-fail.
I am pleased to read that both of the above have another book coming out later this year.
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01:30 am
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Social whirlygig
Got back today from four days in London, visiting various folks. Saw, in chronological order, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) wildeabandon, robert_jones, obandsoller, sashagoblin, the_alchemist, mirabehn, mostlyacat, piqueen, shreena, quizcustodet, mirrorshard, my dad WINOLJ, and briefly borusa and kerrypolka.
Had lots of good Indian and Mexican food, beer, port and whisky, gave my dad his birthday present of a rather nice dog-headed cane from an antique shop near me, went with mirabehn to Chesham Quaker Meeting - first proper such thing I've been to, met up with shreena and quizcustodet at the London St. Patrick's Day festivities in Trafalgar Square, which for some reason were a day late, on Sunday. Various Irish bands, mixed quality. But the headliners were really good - The High Kings. Played a lot of Irish standards, like Rocky Road to Dublin, Finnegan's Wake, Star of the County Down, Leaving of Liverpool, The Irish Rover, etc. etc. - standards, but some of 'em don't get played often enough! Also a good 'ol rebel song, The Rising of the Moon, which I know but don't think I'd heard live, and even a couple I didn't know.
On Monday evening I was at (along with several others of the above-mentioned) I was at a meeting organized by the_alchemist to set up the London chapter of Giving What We Can - a charity which encourages people to a) give more of their income to charity - specifically, 10% - and, more particularly, b) to give more effectively, in the sense of giving to those charities that will save most lives per pound donated. (Which implies those working in the developing world, or on developing world issues).
So far they've evaluated only those charities working specifically on health-related interventions, as that is most easily susceptible to measurement - specifically, measuring the cost per QALY.
One of the speakers was Prof. Alan Fenwick, a scientist at Imperial College (where the event was held) who runs one of the charities GWWC rate most highly on this score - the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic (worm) infection, one of a number of 'neglected Tropical diseases', which is endemic in most areas that do not have proper sanitation. While not immediately fatal, it makes very large numbers of people (particularly common in children) very ill and thoroughly miserable, causing a lot of missed school, work etc., and can eventually kill through liver failure, bladder cancer and various other complications. Prof. Fenwick says that it likely affects most of the billion poorest of the world's population, and the Wikipedia article describes it as the second most socioeconomically devastating disease after Malaria.
The extraordinary thing is that it can be treaetd, fully effectively, with a couple of tablets once or twice a year, at a total delivery cost of well under a dollar per child. A billion dollars a year - practically nothing for richer governments - could eradicate the disease within less than a decade. And yet.
Of course, there's an important question about dealing with symptoms and dealing with root causes, and one needs to work on both at once. But with something like this, eradicating a disease of this sort would lead to much healthier populations in the world's poorest countries, plus a whole lot less missed school, and that in itself would be a major spur to development. It's kind of a no-brainer low-hanging-fruit irritating-business-jargon-of-choice.
There were other interesting speakers too, but it is late, so that'll have to do for now. Anyway, well done to the_alchemist for organizing it.
Anyway, 'twas very good to see everyone. Definitely needed that, and should do this sort of thing more often.
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02:40 am
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Fic recs
Tonight (this morning?) I will rec a Buffy fanfic author, beer_good_foamy. Ze is one of the most hilarious Buffy writers out there, irreverent but affectionate to the source, and always getting the characters down to a tee. And just occasionally some darker stuff.
Of recent works, I would particularly recommend Ms. Summers goes to Washington, especially if you are also a West Wing fan.
Tags: buffy, fanfic
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