Category Archives: Politics

Environmental politics

How much power does it use? A useful website

June 19, 2007 – 11:05 pm

The website compares energy use for lots of the obvious appliances, fridges, washing machines, etc, among different brands and models. And some of the differences are enormous.

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Politics

Who’s selfish?

June 19, 2007 – 9:59 pm

These are Australian figures, but they probably broadly hold in most Western countries, at least outside America:

…the people who get most out of our tax and benefits system are the almost 20 per cent of households that are elderly, thanks to pensions and health care.
The third of households with dependent children are roughly square because, though they pay a lot of tax, they get back a lot in family tax benefits, education and health care. (Sole parents, however, are well ahead.) So who does that leave to pick up the tab? At one level, the people at the rich end in each of those life-stage categories.
At another level, however, it leaves the 40 per cent of households composed of singles or childless couples of working age. They pay a lot of tax but get back nothing in family benefits and not much in education and health care benefits.

So next time someone tells you that you are being “selfish” if you decide not to have children…

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Environmental politics

News you can use: compostable cups

June 19, 2007 – 12:13 am

Biopac, of Ridgeway Cross, Cradley, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 5 JN, make environment-friendly drinking cups from laminated carton board, material which can be composted after use and breaks down in weeks.

No, I’m not on commission, just irritated by the number of plastic cups I see around.

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Feminism

Forget the ‘traditional family’

June 16, 2007 – 9:34 am

The Economist has summarised the current birth rates of European states. The conclusion:

…only countries with many births outside wedlock and with high female participation rates have reasonably high birth rates. Those that have sought to maintain traditional family ties have seen fertility collapse.

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Feminism

Honouring and remembering…

June 16, 2007 – 9:18 am

You are invited to attend a remembrance service in memory and deep respect to Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha a victim of the so called Honour killing
“Banaz never had a funeral, her grave is without a name or a memorial, let us pay her the respect she deserves”
Organised by the Combating “Honour” Based Violence Forum on Tuesday 26th June 2007 from 1-4 pm
At 1pm
* The remembrance service will start with a meeting to share our memories, thoughts and experiences about Banaz and other victims of the so called Honour Killing.
* Venue: Morden Assembly Hall, Turdo Drive, Morden, Surrey SM4 4PJ

I can’t make it due to work, but have the full details if you can. Reading police pledges (again!) to do better to protect women, I shivered at this paragraph:

In one instance where she had escaped from her father, she was not taken seriously, and described as melodramatic and manipulative by an officer who interviewed her.

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Environmental politics Feminism

Free development and gender articles

June 14, 2007 – 5:32 pm

From the inbox:

Oxfam GB Publishing has selected articles on ‘civil society’ from two journals, Development in Practice and Gender & Development. These are free to download until the end of July. Please also find a selection of Oxfam books available to download from the Oxfam Publishing web, and a short video clip.
To access these free articles and other downloads from Oxfam, please visit.

I was particularly taken by a piece about the place of dalit activists within Indian feminism. I did a little consultancy work in India and the class/caste position of the people with whom I was working did worry me, although as an outsider it is hard to know what to do about it.

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