Alan's Green Thoughts

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the turbulent year that was 2013 is almost at an end. It has sadly been a year mostly of instability and despair-but also a year of moving on. It has seen the deaths of three great heroes of our time-Hugo Chavez, Seamus Heaney and Nelson Mandela-and also the death of Britain's greatest modern villain,Margaret Thatcher. It has seen Euroscepticism rise significantly,particularly in Britain. It has shown us that five years on from the financial crisis, the threats get worse and worse-but this year has shown the potential definitely exists for us to fight against them. It has seen so much, to summarise. My next update will be in the new year of 2014. Best wishes, Alan.    

Well, it is now the Winter Solstice, aka the shortest day of the calendar year, and thus almost the end of the year. This year, I must say, has been rather turbulent. I thus wish to send this Christmas message to my blog's readers: When enjoying the festive season, please also respect the environment and our well-being whilst you do so.  For a few examples, remember to buy gifts and cards that will last rather than items that will generally end up getting junked. And if you wish to buy chocolate for a gift, perhaps to someone you love, please make sure it is fairtrade and thus please do not be tempted to buy those Quality Street, Roses etc. gift boxes. And also, if you need to wrap gifts, please do so responsibly and find wrapping paper you can recycle. On another note, seasons' greetings to you all :) Best wishes, Alan.    

Readers, the results from yesterday's local by-elections featuring Green candidates are as follows, in case you missed them: Bolton, Harper Green: Lab 744 (51.3%), Con 325 (22.4%), UKIP 252 (17.4%), Green 60 (4.1%), Lib Dem 53 (3.7%). West Sussex (county), Haywards Heath East: Con 649 (35.5%), UKIP 576 (31.5%), Lab 346 (19%), Lib Dem 201 (11%), Green 55 (3%) Mid Sussex (district),  Haywards Heath Frankland: Con 414 (45.6%), UKIP 269 (29.6%), Lab 103 (11.3%), Lib Dem 91 (10%), Green 31 (3.4%). Highland Council, Black Isle (1st preference votes): Ind Barclay 1342 (32.8%), Ind Fraser 633 (15.5%), SNP 594 (14.5%), Lib Dem 489 (12%), Green 362 (8.8%), Ind Phillips 304 (7.4%), Lab 194 (4.7%), Con 175 (4.3%). Mrs. Barclay (the widow of Cllr. Bill Barclay, whose death caused this by-election), was elected. I am at least glad we Greens increased our vote share in Black Isle, the most interesting of these contests-the Highlands are not exactly renowned for Green strength but conve...

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say how thankful I am that the three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot-wrongly jailed on charges of 'hooliganism' not so long ago when they were just protesting against Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime-and also the 'Greenpeace 30' (30 Greenpeace activists detained for blocking a Gazprom ship searching for oil in the Arctic Ocean, which for everyone's sake needs to be protected from oil and/or natural gas exploration) will be released following an amnesty from Russia. But it is clear that the Putin government must improve significantly on the human rights front in Russia, especially with regards to freedom of expression, free and fair elections, and LGBT rights. These human rights should be respected in all nations across the world, from culture to culture. Russia needs to also deal with the significant levels of inequality caused largely by the actions of its infamous oligarchs. I hope, over the next year, fol...

Ladies and gentlemen, the media in Britain has given significant reports on two recent deaths. One is of Dr. Abbas Khan, who went into the bombarded city of Aleppo, Syria to practice field medicine but was captured by Syrian troops loyal to Bashar Al-Assad and later found dead in his cell-likely at the hands of his captors. The other death is of Ronnie Biggs, infamous for his participation in the 1963 Great Train Robbery, his escape and subsequent evasion of capture for 35 years. In relation to these two deaths, what I should say is this: Dr. Khan deserves to be remembered and mourned. He went into the job of field medic in Syria despite the brutal civil war Syria is undergoing, and the near-suicidal risk he took into trying to save the lives of people caught in the crossfire between rebels and Syrian government forces. There are few doctors anywhere who would risk this, even those more passionate about saving lives and keeping people healthy than most. The world should be thankful f...

Ladies and gentlemen, there has been much talk about those who are leaving the SWP rapidly and in droves, including Ian Birchall, biographer of SWP founder Tony Cliff. Some speculate whether this will result in the SWP's final demise, after its long and mostly parasitic existence. The SWP is something the progressive elements of Britain can really do without; one protest group even destroyed an unmanned SWP stall down near Sussex University; I myself am quite tired of the SWP gatecrashing demonstrations and marches. As I have said before, the SWP are not real socialists and contribute nothing useful to the British left. The newest socialist alliance, Left Unity, has wisely not let the SWP itself inside but rather those members who have renounced the SWP; the exodus is largely because of the Comrade Delta scandal. I am glad for those people who have left and renounced the SWP, and I hope that as many of them as possible will come and join the Green Party (as long as they respect...

Readers, you may have heard before about the fact that we humans, like all other living things, are dependent on our environment. This is one of the main reasons we must protect our environment, respect it, and try to avoid buying products that are linked to environmental damage, either directly or indirectly. We also need to know that much of what is bad for the environment-pollution, 'fast food', soil degradation-is also bad for our health as well. Excessive pollution over the decades-via emissions from coal, from petrol, from diesel, from other harmful gases-has proven itself to be a factor in increasing rates of cancer, infertility, developmental delay and other health problems in much of the world, especially in densely-populated areas.  The proliferation of fast food in developed (and to a lesser extent, developing) nations has been linked to rising rates of obesity and diabetes, which contribute to higher rates of death from heart problems in these societies. Fast ...