Saturday 23 July 2011

Today I went for a walk.

Today I went for a walk, the footpaths were open and if I had had time, I could have gone into the stillness of the woods with the soft paths, paved with generations of fallen leaves.  How long will these rights remain, though?  If you have a wood or a forest you love to walk through, maybe one near you or one you have visited on holiday or on a day's walking expedition, there are two organisations who have a  form for you to fill in, to tell the independent panel on forestry why the woodland are important to you... and there are only nine days left now before the consultation is closed..They say they want to hear from YOU. The Woodland Trust has one form you can access on  http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/our-campaigns/panel/Pages/forestrypanel.aspx?WT.mc_id=panel  and The Ramblers Association has a slightly different version at http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=117&ea.campaign.id=10747  They are thoughtful questions and maybe you will enjoy telling the panel what you feel about your woodlands... it's a great opportunity to really say how much they matter to you... and your family if you have one.

Saturday 9 July 2011

The mists of Murdoch

     In the Mists of Murdoch, there are some hidden truths.  One is that the Italian people managed  to overcome the near monopoly of the media, and opposition from the politicians to mount an extraordinary and brilliant people to people campaign against nuclear power and for the public ownership of water.
     It is up to the people of Britain to say what they think should happen about nuclear power.  According to a piece I read in the Guardian, God bless them,  around 51 per cent of  the people in the U.K.voted against nuclear power recently. I think I found reference to another poll somewhere, which was 57%. .
     Surely this is the time for a referendum, if ever there was one. We are not represented in Parliament.  The Liberal Democrats, in case they have forgotten, were voted for by people who believed them when they said that they were against nuclear power before the election.
     However horrible and morally outrageous as the News of the World and some other papers  reporting methods have been, I assume that they told the truth in some of  these issues. However,  I think that the recently uncovered emails revealing  the Government's handling of the facts after Fukushima, hardly show a government committed to the truthful reporting of massively important facts to the people.
     Whatever the outcome of the Murdoch issue, I sincerely hope any inquiry will not be used for parliament to grab more protection from the truth for itself.
     I'm far from perfect, but I don't think any one of us has the right to leave this nuclear legacy to the coming generations.  Perhaps it's about time for the government to ask themselves whom they really represent..  It's not to late ...yet.