1.  The Canadian government is now just as scared of us, and the truth, as is the U.S. government:

"Stephen Harper’s campaign has been so unrelenting in its undifferentiated smearing of the entire international movement seeking 911 Truth that it has extended the frontiers of hate speech as political rhetoric. So ruthless has the Harper Team been on this theme that it can henceforth be identified as one of the world’s foremost agencies in the ongoing 911 Cover Up.

...

In the initial Conservative press release on 911 the Harper Team quoted Conservative candidate Peter Kent. Kent collectively slandered all those many individuals seeking 911 Truth as “one of Canada’s most notorious hate mongering fringe movements.” What a self-incriminating slur to fall from the lips of the Scud Stud’s news reading brother. The subsequent Conservative press releases continued to follow this hysterical line labeling all those seeking 911 truth as “fanatics,” “incoherent,” “hateful,” “discredited” “offensive” and “repugnant.” According to the would-be thought police of the 911 Cover Up Party, the movement composed of those seeking 911 truth “is notorious for holding anti-Semitic views.”
http://www.911blogger.com/node/18067

2.  In a small triumph for liberty, the British House of Lords actually shows some backbone:

"Gordon Brown is preparing for a humiliating climbdown over his proposal to hold terrorist suspects for 42 days after being told that it will be defeated in the House of Lords.

Ministers admit privately that there is not “a cat in Hell’s chance” of the legislation, which returns to the Lords this week, being passed into law.

...

We are very fortunate that the House of Lords (ironically unelected) has the moral courage to protect the fundamental freedoms we enjoy in Britain - unlike Gordon Brown and the Labour Party, who want to turn our country into a totalitarian surveillance state.

I hope it stays dropped. The price in civil freedom is out of all proportion to the threat. Consider road death numbers alongside terrorism casualties. Which is the greater menace?"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4887653.ece

3.  A great explanation of the financial crisis:

"Ebbsfleet explained the chain of events in the US economy meltdown “Some organisation you’ve never heard of still has all the same stuff it used to have, but now that stuff’s worth a lot less for reasons nobody really understands. So the government had to give them a shitload of money. The company didn’t buy any new stuff with it or anything, but they needed that money so the stuff they already own is worth what it used to be. I think that’s right, anyway.”

Ebbsfleet went on to explain the effect this had on the wider economy “Lots of other people who buy parts of completely unconnected companies suddenly decided that this meant those companies were now worth less too. Even though, yes I know, they still had all the same stuff – it’s not like all their office furniture suddenly fell to bits or they lost a building or something. So they told all their mates that the bits of company they owned could now be bought for even cheaper. They weren’t necessarily going to buy those bits of company, mind, but if they were they’d expect to pay less for it. I tend to get a little lost at this point but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.”

http://pushjelly.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-stock-market-crash-continues-to-make.html

October 3, 2008

1.  "Pepper called some 70 witnesses during a three-week trial. The jury deliberated 59 minutes before finding Jowers and agents with the federal government, Tennessee and Memphis police guilty.
...

"James Earl Ray is not the gunman," Brown said. "He is what appears to be one of four scapegoats."

...

While some say the retests were inconclusive, Brown said they showed the bullet that killed King was fired using one of 64 specialized barrels -- all of which were in the military's possession.

"It was a classic abuse of power and crime in high places of the U.S. government," Brown said. "(Prosecutors) didn't want to know if they had the truth."

Pepper represents Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Robert Kennedy on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles. He said new acoustic analysis reveals at least 13 shots were fired. Kennedy was killed by a shot in the back of his head. Most witnesses placed Sirhan in front of the senator."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_591172.html

2.  "It was not a debate.
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The genre of the political review assumes that both candidates are credible in their roles. It becomes self-parody when one candidate is a ditzy nonentity cynically foisted on the public in the same way a 'reality show' is, based on a targeted demographic and without regard to quality.
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Not only was there no debate but Sarah Palin was not required actually to answer any of the questions put to her, and she announced before she began that she was just going to throw up on us all the talking points that she had binged on in Arizona for the past few days.

She mugged for the camera, winked like a bar fly, and just went on talking and talking and talking, oblivious to whatever anyone else said. Not only did she ignore most of Gwen Ifill's questions,she paid no attention to what Joe Biden said. When he choked up over the loss of his family, she did not have the decency to express any kind of condolences. It is almost as though she is autistic and unable to connect with human beings.
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It was not a debate, and pretending that it was and judging "performance" is to fall into the trap set by the campaign spinmeisters and talking point pimps."

http://www.juancole.com/

3.  "Sarah Palin has committed yet another political blunder after claiming she had held talks with a British ambassador - talks that never actually took place."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1066426/Sarah-Palin-blunders-talks-British-ambassador-took-place-TV-debate-looms.html

4.  "If Congress does not approve the bail-out plan, or significantly limits it, or even if Congress does approves it, it were to prove insufficient in the days and weeks to come with a further spate of major banking and insurance company failures, then the US Government - i.e., the Fed and Treasury Dept. - might very well declare a "National Economic Emergency" and introduce a totally new currency.

No, not the "Amero" which is a smoke-screen rumour, but rather something far more straight to the point: a "New Dollar" which, contrary to the present devalued dollar, would be Gold-backed, however not by just any gold: it will be 9999 proof gold bullion, with some sort of 100% fool-proof security factor - e.g., either an embedded chip or hologram that will transform it into "Global Reserve Gold", or financially "sacred" gold - that will have a value maybe ten times higher than normal "profane" Gold. At the same time, an extended banking holiday will be declared in order to implement the change of currency (just as happened in Argentina several times in recent history, notably when former president Alfonsín introduced the "Austral" to replace the highly devalued peso).

Transition to the new currency will be at terms highly beneficial for those banks, companies, citizens, allies and other "preferred allies and friends" of the US who will get One New Dollar for each "old" dollar. Then, certain powerful holders of dollar-denominated instruments - cash, US Treasury Bills and Bonds, and the like - will be given some preferential treatment based on specific US geopolitical and geoeconomic interests such as, for example, the governments and interests of the European Union, Japan, maybe China, and specific institutions and global corporations who will be able to change their old dollars for New Dollars at acceptable rates of exchange, say 2, 3 or 4 old dollars for every New Dollar.

For the rest of dollar-holders - i.e., vast numbers of private investors in all parts of the world in countries in Latin America, Central Europe, the Muslim World, Africa, etc. - the US Government will simply say that their respective local markets will need to determine how many old dollars will buy a New Dollar, and that this will be governed by the market forces of supply and demand. We will then see currency traders of all shapes and sizes offering One New Dollar for every 8, 10, or 20 old dollars in the hands of desperate masses of people trying to get rid of those creased green-backed bits of paper of falling value.(5)

The immediate effect of this would be to further spread the socializing of US banking losses into emerging markets and weaker economies outside of the United States (i.e., New Dollar would allow the bankers to selectively export the US currency's inflationary erosion towards specific regions and segments of the world)."

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10430

5.  "Please understand what you are looking at when you look at Sarah "Evita" Palin. You are looking at the designated muse of the coming American police state.
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I realized early on with horror what I was seeing in Governor Palin: the continuation of the Rove-Cheney cabal, but this time without restraints. I heard her echo Bush 2000 soundbites ("the heart of America is on display") and realized Bush's speechwriters were writing her -- not McCain's -- speeches. I heard her tell George Bush's lies -- not McCain's -- to the American people, linking 9/11 to Iraq. I heard her make fun of Barack Obama for wanting to prevent the torture of prisoners -- this is Rove-Cheney's enthusiastic S and M, not McCain's, who, though he shamefully colluded in the 2006 Military Tribunals Act, is also a former prisoner of war and wrote an eloquent Newsweek piece in 2005 opposing torture. I saw that she was even styled by the same skillful stylist (neutral lipstick, matte makeup, dark colors) who turned Katharine Harris from a mall rat into a stateswoman and who styles all the women in the Bush orbit -- but who does not bother to style Cindy McCain.

Then I saw and heard more. Palin is embracing lawlessness in defying Alaskan Legislature subpoenas -- this is what Rove-Cheney, and not McCain, believe in doing. She uses mafia tactics against critics, like the police commissioner who was railroaded for opposing handguns in Alaskan battered women's shelters -- Rove's style, not McCain's. I realized what I was seeing.

Reports confirmed my suspicions: Palin, not McCain, is the FrankenBarbie of the Rove-Cheney cabal. The strategy became clear. Time magazine reported that Rove is "dialed in" to the McCain campaign. Rove's protege Steve Schmidt is now campaign manager. And Politico reported that Rove was heavily involved in McCain's vice presidential selection. Finally a new report shows that there are dozens of Bush and Rove operatives surrounding Sarah Palin and orchestrating her every move.

What's the plan? It is this. McCain doesn't matter. Reputable dermatologists are discussing the fact that in simply actuarial terms, John McCain has a virulent and life-threatening form of skin cancer. It is the elephant in the room, but we must discuss the health of the candidates: doctors put survival rates for someone his age at two to four years. I believe the Rove-Cheney cabal is using Sarah Palin as a stalking horse, an Evita figure, to put a popular, populist face on the coming police state and be the talk show hostess for the end of elections as we know them. If McCain-Palin get in, this will be the last true American election. She will be working for Halliburton, KBR, Rove and Cheney into the foreseeable future -- for a decade perhaps -- a puppet "president" for the same people who have plundered our treasure, are now holding the US economy hostage and who murdered four thousand brave young men and women in a way of choice and lies.
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Do you think that spying like this will ever end under a Palin-Rove regime? Dream on. If she and McCain are elected, then every single strategy memo and speech and debate prep note from every opposition candidate from now and on into forever will be read by the regime in power while it is still in the computers of the challengers.

Under the Palin-Rove police state, citizens will be targeted with state cyberterrorism. Bruce Fein of the American Freedom Agenda, a former Reagan official, warned me three years ago that the Bush team went after a Republican who had crossed them through cyberstalking: they messed with his email, messed with his phones and I believe messed with his bank account -- he became a cyber-pariah, unemployable and haunted. With modern technology, there really is less place to hide from the state than there was in East Germany in the Cold War era. I remember feeling a chill: of course. That is the wave of the future once we breach the protections around citizens of FISA and the fourth amendment. That way lies the abyss for us all.

Am I trying to scare you? I am. I am trying to scare you to death and ask you to scare your Republican and independent friends most of all. How do you know when it is war on citizens? When there are mass arrests, journalists are jailed, the opposition is infiltrated, rights are stripped and leaders start to ignore the rule of law.

Almost everyone I work with on projects related to this campaign for liberty has been experiencing computer harassment: emails are stripped, messages disappear. That's not all: people's bank accounts are being tampered with: wire transfers to banks vanish in midair. I personally keep opening bank accounts that are quickly corrupted by fraud. Money vanishes. Coworkers of mine have to keep opening new email accounts as old ones become infected. And most disturbingly to me personally is the mail tampering I have both heard of and experienced firsthand. My tax returns vanished from my mailbox. All my larger envelopes arrive ripped straight open apparently by hand. When I show the postman, he says "That's impossible." Horrifyingly to me is the impact on my family. My childrens' report cards are returned again and again though perfectly addressed; their invitations are turned back; and my daughters many letters from camp? Vanished. All of them. Not one arrived. Try explaining that to a smart thirteen year old. Try explaining it in a way that still makes her feel secure and comfortable."
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10429

6.  "It's an important development that Sarah Palin's snide invocation of the old and previously effective GOP war-monger canard -- that opposing the continuation of a war is to "wave the white flag of surrender" -- blew up right in her face. It's even more important that Americans continue vehemently to oppose a war despite the increased perception that the U.S. is "winning", and continue to believe the war was a grave mistake and are demanding its unconditional end. That reflects a sea change in how war generally is perceived. And most of all, despite the best self-serving efforts of the pro-war political establishment all year long to impose on Americans a belief that they plainly do not hold -- namely, that the Iraq War is now popular again and should be continued and that the war will therefore help the GOP -- it is still a heavy, potentially fatal, anvil around the neck of John McCain and the entire GOP apparatus."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

However, what was most interesting yesterday was the response to two questions I put to the students.  I mentioned a range of issues on which people have decided views, including the voting age.  I asked if they supported the lowering of the voting age to 16.  They were overwhelmingly against it.  Only three, out of approximately forty, students voted for it.  I have known other post-16 groups where there has been a majority against lowering the age, but not quite on such an overwhelming scale. 

Later, in discussing the agenda-setting role of the House, I mentioned some issues brought on to the agenda by individual peers.  I offered as a recent example Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying Bill, designed to enable someone who is terminally ill and in chronic pain to be assisted if they have a clear wish to die.  (The issue is again topical because of a current court case.)  The students were overwhelmingly in favour of the principle of assisted dying.  Only three or four people voted against.  I wasn't sure what the vote would be, but the scale of support was remarkable.

Mandelson is currently serving as an EU trade commissioner and is not an MP. To take up the post Mandelson has to abandon his post and step straight into a lordship, bypassing the need to seek the approval of the masses.

Mandelson has previously been forced to resign TWICE over abuses of power. The first resignation involved a dodgy mortgage loan, given to him by someone his department was investigating. He also failed to declare this loan to his building society which is something you or I would go to jail for.

Mandelson gave up his job, only to return ten months later and was given the task of sorting out Northern Ireland. He then had to resign again after allegations of abusing his position to influence the Home Office over passports for friends of his.

Mandelson was then rewarded with a cushy EU job.

Now he is to get a Lordship and be given one of the most influential posts in British Industry.

Is this an example of the fair society of the future Gordon Brown wishes to build? You can lie and cheat your way through public life and be rewarded with ever more powerful jobs? Mandelson is a professional politician whose sole contribution has been to use PR and smoke and mirrors to keep his cronies in Power and feather his own nest. The country faces difficult economic times ahead and the PM puts a spin-doctor in charge of British business.

Gordon, any public trust you once had has now just disappeared.

On Tuesday there is a debate on the Pensions Bill and Wednesday is the second day on the Planning Bill. Thursday sees the first part of the Counter Terrorism Bill.

It should be a lively week!

In a post earlier this year, I asked if readers could name the three hereditary peers who sit in the House of Commons.  Given the quality of our readership, the answer was provided very quickly by several people.  I thought I would therefore pose a more difficult question.

Which peer once addressed the House of Lords as 'My Dears'?

Francis Wheen refers to the incident when mentioning the peer in his wonderfully entertaining biography of Labour MP Tom Driberg.  The peer spoke for Driberg in the 1951 general election.  I did wonder if the story was apocryphal.  However, reference to the event appears in the recently published diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles.  He recorded having lunch one day with a number of people, including Quintin Hogg, newly appointed Under Secretary for Air.  "Hogg said that xxx, ..... had recently thrown the House of Lords into consternation by addressing their Lordships as 'My Dears'."    I won't mention the date recorded in the diary, since that would make it too easy for anyone who has a copy of the book.  It will be interesting to see if anyone can provide an answer as quickly as respondents to the earlier question.  I would add the unhelpful clue that the peer (who died in the 1970s) was not particularly well-known.

As an aside, I did wonder what would happen today if a peer addressed the House as 'My Dears' rather than 'My Lords'.  I suppose if several peers were trying to intervene in a debate at the same time, all saying 'My Lords', someone rising and exclaiming 'My Dears' might gain the attention of the House!

Iain Dale occasionally does a link from his blog to one of the posts on this site.  Whenever he does, our traffic increases quite markedly.  He did a link to my post on office space in the Lords.  However, he said that I bemoaned my lack of office space.  As the first person to comment on his list observed, that was quite clearly what I was not doing.   Not only I am very content with what I have, I actually look forward to coming in to the office.  The space and facilities are perfectly sufficient, I am able to get through a mass of work, I can converse with colleagues,  and - as the picture shows - I have a splendid view from the window.  Admittedly, the views is only this good when I pull the net-curtaining back and open the window, but it remains stunning.  I also get a good view of any demonstrations on the green opposite. 

The reason for my post was to counter perceptions that we have grand individual offices.  I can see why people might think that we do.  Anyone going on a tour of the Palace, or simply marvelling at it from outside, may well assume peers are housed in sumptious surroundings.  The reality is that space is at a premium, and we have to be housed in very limited conditions. 

Are there any downsides?  Pressure on space means that not all members have desks.  There is limited space for storing material.  Not having an individual office means that there is no space adequate to receive visitors.  If someone comes to see me, I either take them to one of the seating areas in the magnificent Royal Gallery or take them to tea in the Dining Room.  I can see why visitors might take the view that this is rather a good deal!  The only real problem is not so much the limited space for members but rather the almost non-existent space for secretaries and researchers (for those members who have them).  Even front-benchers have difficulty finding desk space for the researchers who assist them.   As the size of the parliamentary estate expands (one of the outbuildings is being extended), most additional space will be allocated to members, but it would be useful if at least some desks could be found for support staff.

Dear All,

I hope you are well. It is a pleasure to open another window on Iran as we start yet another lively and colorful autumn in St. Louis. This will be a full window with lots of news about Iran on various subjects including current issues, art, science and technology.

Upcoming Events

* If you are in St. Louis this weekend, you will have a chance to see the play The Veil of Silence, by Andrew Michael Neiman and Suzanne Renard. Saturday November 10 at 8 PM, and Sunday November 11 at 2 PM at The Black Cat Theater, 2810 Sutton in Maplewood.

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* And if you are planning to be in San Diego next Sunday, Nov. 18, stop by the UNC Press booth at the book exhibit for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in the Convention Center where I will have the pleasure of meeting you while signing copies of Jasmine & Stars: Reading More than Lolita in Tehran. See the flyer here: Jasmine and Stars American Academy of Religion Flyer.

Let us now move to our first set of beautiful slides. I cannot think of a better opening for any window.

Visual Delight

* Iranians have a history of love for calligraphy. In the past two or three decades there has been a clear revival in this historic art form. One of the interesting features of contemporary Iranian calligraphy is its interrelation with painting. As you know from these windows, young Iranian painters paint a great deal and in a vast array of styles and media. This week I am going to introduce you Sadegh Tabrizi, a master painter and calligrapher (born 1938). Tabrizi has had numerous individual and group exhibits in various parts of the country. What is particularly interesting about the exhibit which you will see is that every painting is inspired by letters of the alphabet and the art of calligraphy in general. Please click here: Calligraphy Art by Sadegh Tabrizi. Enjoy!

* While we are on visual arts, lets add a touch of performance and watch a clip form a current Iranian TV series that I told you about a few weeks ago. This is the love story called "The Zero Degree Turn" involving the rescue of a number of French Jews and putting them on a plane to Iran disguised as Iranians.  (Thanks to Behrooz Ghamari for sending the clip).

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Current Issues

* An Iranian woman takes up a seat in the House of Lords cross benches as a non-party political peer in recognition of her work. Professor Haleh Afshar, who is an adviser to the British government on public policy relating to Muslim women and Islamic law and the founder and chair of the Muslim Women's Network, was chosen as a 'People's Peer', an appointment for people who will bring distinction and expertise to the House of Lords. For the full article click on: http://www.payvand.com/news/07/oct/1265.html (courtesy of a new subscriber to the windows on Iran Mina Naji, thank you Mina Khanom!).

The New US Sanctions against Iran

* As you read that the US imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran may not be as effective as the current American government presents them to be, please know that ordinary Iranians are quite a bit worried about further economic hardship resulting from these sanctions. The point to keep in mind is that sanctions and economic problems do not encourage diversity and change in any country. If you have doubts about this, think about a simple situation. If you were to take care of your family during an economic crisis, which will be your priority: "finding medical care for a sick child" or "attending a meeting or a rally to improve the country's political system"?

* We usually hear that China and Russia are helping Iran survive the U.S. attempts to isolate it. A lot of less known individuals are also working to do the same. One such attempt involves building the first 7-star-hotel run entirely by solar energy. "Generating electricity from the sun is a very expensive project but I mean to bring this technology to Iran," said Hossein Sabet, the Iranian investor of the solar hotel. "Now that other countries are imposing sanctions on Iran, building such a hotel is an important step in tourism development," he concluded. Here is an article, if you like to see pictures and read more: http://www.payvand.com/news/07/nov/1016.html

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Passionate Appeal to Europe

* Jean-Marie Matagne, President of "Action of Citizens for the Total Dismantling of Nukes" (Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire, ACDN, France), Doctor in Philosophy and Dr. Yehuda Atai, Executive Secretariat of the Mediterranean No Nuclear Neighborhood (MN3), Member in the Israeli Committee for a Free Middle East of WMD, Publisher of the "World of the Bible" have made a passionate appeal to the European community to do everything in their power to prevent a war on Iran: http://acdn.france.free.fr/spip/article.php3?id_article=361&lang=en

* Here in our own country, the presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama made headlines when he introduced a note of sanity into the election debates that at some point looked like an Iran bashing competition. In an interview, on November 1st in Chicago, Senator Obama pledged to work on building a new relationship with Iran, should he get into the White House. He further explained that sticking to the rhetoric of "regime change," just for the sake of it, is wrong and suggested that things need to change in a more fundamental way on both sides. The fact that he had one of his successful fund raising weeks last week may not be solely the outcome of this interview. However, it shows that the American public is tired of angry rhetorics and is hoping for a more sophisticated foreign policy. You can read more at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21586430/

Stem Cell Research in Iran

* This month, Rudolf Jaenisch, a founding member of the Whitehead Institute and a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attended a major scientific conference in the Royan Institute in Tehran. Professor Jaenisch who was warned by friends against traveling to Iran had this to say: "During my time in Tehran, however, I encountered only enthusiasm and hospitality. Other Westerners, such as Emory University's Sarah Berga, who has spoken at this conference before, were treated equally well. My only regret is that there were not more Americans there. Despite my colleagues' concerns, I felt safer than if I had been a tourist in a large American city. There were no panhandlers or aggressive touts to harass me, and the country is beautiful." Here is the link, if you like to read more: http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2007/0710/071025/full/stemcells.2007.105.html.

* On a related topic, NAS expands cooperation with Iran. Following productive discussions in Iran between representatives of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and senior Iranian officials and scientific leaders, the U.S. National Academies plan to expand a program of scientific cooperation with Iranian institutions that began in 1999. During the past eight years, continuing political confrontations between the U.S. and Iranian governments have complicated bilateral scientific cooperation, but with perseverance by scientific institutions in both countries, important programs have been carried out: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=10312007.

Iranian Women in Sports

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* For a variety of recent images of Iranian women athletes, visit http://www.shirzanan.com/spip.php?article476. To enlarge individual images, double-click on them. I did not make them into a power point slide show to keep the volume of the visual attachment to this window small.

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If you are not signed up to receive these windows, send a message to windowoniran@yahoo.com to subscribe. Until the next window on Iran, have a great weekend.

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Best,
Fatemeh
===================================
Fatemeh Keshavarz, Professor and Chair
Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Washington University in St. Louis
Tel: (314) 935-5156
Fax: (314) 935-4399
==================================

So as I mentioned in an earlier post I'm both a freak over the movie Vacation, and I'm a budding guitarist.  

I suck at guitar but I try.  I sometimes wonder if I would have been better at it if I stated earlier.  I started both acting and music fairly late when I was 22 or so.  I don't know I just woke up one morning and decided that my life sucked and I wanted it to be different.  I even ditched some of my old friends because I thought they were negative and holding me back.  Would I have been more successful as either an actress or musician if I had started in my teens or earlier.  I don't know, I don't see a lot of child stars doing all that well these days as adults, but some success is better than none.  I did have my commercial, but I would rather be a big rock star on stage than having to tell people I was famous for 30 seconds and don't even really have a credit for it to prove.  ha ha  "gotta laugh at that one"

I just got to thinking about the starting off younger thing with guitar, because I really love to play and try to write music.  So I'm signed up to get email alerts from my favorite website.  Now I know people are reading my blog from the stats and I know what you're thinking and no my favorite site has nothing to do with Vacation or Dana Barron and it's no not Erin's site Vacatisms.com, although that's going to be my favorite when they finish it.  No I meant Jeff's site jfrocks.com.  Because of the email alerts I'm signed up for I get advanced links to their videos before they go up for everyone else.  Me and like 10 Billion others are signed up for it so it's nothing that special or anything, but it's useful and I like to belong to things so I sign up for stuff like that all over the web. 

The latest video is called "songwriting part 3" and it got me thinking about this starting younger issue.  Jeff gave credit for the lesson's example song to a couple kids that he called "The Pali High guitar heroes".  I had no idea what that meant so I was glad he cleared up that it was Pacific Palisades High School out there in sunny California.

Anyways what got me thinking was the fact that these Pali high guitar heroes as he called them are his neighbor's kids, and they're like 15 or something and they play really well.  I mean the song track is awesome even though Jeff joking calls it "This Sucks".  ha ha  I don't know but when I was 15 I couldn't do anything well.  These kids are playing complex licks on the guitar and they get to work with Jeff. 

How come I'm not that lucky.  Leaving Jeff out of the equation for a moment, how come I don't know anyone cool like that.  Is it because I didn't do anything when I was a kid and the Universe put me in some vortex of bad vibes or something.  I mean I literally don't know anyone other than my immediate friends and the guy at the local grocery that always checks out my ass.  It's kind of creepy too because he's greesy for lack of a better way to put it.

I'm not trying to sound depressing or anything.  I'm OK with my life as its going I think?  I guess I'm just in a dreaming mood, and I'm sitting here 3000 miles away from the Pali High guitar heroes that are lucky enough to live in the right place, at the right time, and get to jam with Mr. jfrocks himself and wondering if maybe I shouldn't just shake things up a bit in my own world.  Or maybe on a deeper level I'm also wondering or I should say imagining what my life would be like right now if I didn't live on the east coast.  What if I grew up in Hollywood.  What if I lived in this Pacific Palisades place and went to Pali High.  What if I lived next door to jeff fiorentino and got to hang out with Dr. House (just a random thought), and could play guitar like a bat out of hell.  What if!!

That's the problem with "what ifs", there is no answer that anyone can give you.  So you just go in circles wondering, "what if?????"  I'm glad I'm only like this occasionally.  I'm a Taurus so I get like this sometimes.  I tend be a bit over sensitive once in a while.

But is it wrong to wonder these what ifs?  Maybe, but I find they help me to enact change in my life.  They say if you can visualize what you want the universe will know what to send you.  Most people can't do this and they live in a confused cloud.  Me on the other hand.  Every time in my life I've visualized something I've gotten it in some way shape or form.  So, I'm going to visualize a new life for myself.  A life where I'm a "good" guitarist.  A "great" actress, and maybe living in California before the stupid winter comes and freezes my ass off for the 27th time.

Probably a pipe dream, but I sure do envy those Pali High guitar heroes.  It sounds like a pretty cool life they're leading.  Jeff and the gang are some pretty cool peeps, I know I bug them via email all the time with guitar related questions and now I email Erin all the time about Vacatisms.  They know me now so they always email back.  Good luck getting most sites to do that, especially Hollywood peeps.  I think I'm probably going to wear out my welcome over there if I don't stop though, ha ha  Oh well, I'll go back to my visualization.  Then maybe I'll actually pick up the guitar and practice something so I have a chance at getting better in the real world instead of my imaginary one.

I think maybe something in "D minor" would be good.  That's D, E, F, G, A, B flat, C  ---- I learned that from my future boyfriend Jeff.    ha ha   just kidding guys don't call the cops.   ha ha   I'm just "visualizing" :)

Samantha

My desk in the Lords

In my earlier post ('If only...') I mentioned that we had to work in limited space.  There is not the capacity in the Lords for each peer to have an office.  The most one can hope for is desk space. 

Barbara Castle was a formidable and feisty politician, both when she served in the Commons and also when she joined the Lords.  (She was elevated to the peerage in 1990 when she was 80.)  She was not afraid to speak her mind and that included when taking on her own Government.  She also came out with some memorable phrases, both in the chamber and away from it. 

There was one occasion when she was near to the chamber and was taken ill.  The normal practice is for an announcement to appear on the screen asking for a doctor to attend in whatever part of the Palace he or she is needed.  The House is not short of medical expertise.  The first doctor to respond was Lord Winston, the noted fertility expert.  As he approached, Lady Castle regained consciousness, looked up, saw him and observed: 'I don't need a gynaecologist!'

This was misleading for a number of reasons.  Only the Lord Speaker has a large, grand office of her own of the sort portrayed in the programme.  A few other office-holders - the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition and the like, as well as law lords - have individual offices.  Everyone else has to make do with shared offices, some of them rather crowded.  My desk is in a large room - it was initially Black Rod's living room - but it houses ten desks: seven of us are among the regular attenders.  What was formerly a shower-room across the corridor has been converted into an office for two peers!  When former Prime Minister, James Callaghan, joined the House, the then Labour Chief Whip, Ted Graham, had enormous difficulty getting him an office of his own.  When Lord Callaghan died, his small office was immediately converted into an office for two senior peers.

Some offices are in good locations in the Palace of Westminster.  My room on the second floor overlooks Westminster Abbey.  Others are not so fortunate and have windows looking out on walls or courtyards.  Pressure on space means that outlying buildings have been acquired to create additional office space.  The offices are modern, but it entails quite a walk when a division is called in the House - not much fun if it's raining and there's heavy traffic when crossing the road.  Such is the pressure on space that I once found the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the corridor on my floor wandering round to see if he could identify additional space.  Some peers have, or prefer, to work in the Library or at one of the desks in the Royal Gallery.  Lord Healey some years ago told me that it reminded him of what the House of Commons was like in the 1960s.

I report this for information, not for the purpose of complaint.  Rooms are allocated on a party basis and it can be useful to discuss issues, and share information, with one's colleagues.  There's an extremely good atmosphere in my office, which makes it a pleasure to work in.  I had the opportunity to move to another room when I was made a Chairman of a Select Committee, but I declined.  Being where I am is a privilege and I have no wish to move.

Did the high import prices keep you from buying the new House of Lords CD, Come To My Kingdom?

You will soon be able to buy this through most U.S. Retailers.

Come To My Kingdom will be released in the United States on October 7th, 2008 by new label, Blistering Records.

Blistering will release its first titles in the U.S. through Ryko Distribution / Warner on October 7th. Among those titles will be new releases from Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Michael Kiske (Helloween), House Of Lords and Revolution Renaissance which features former Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki.

Some of those attending the Workshop

I have previously done a post on the Eighth Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, held at Wroxton College at the end of July.   As with previous workshops, it brought together MPs and researchers from a wide range of countries.  Several members and officials attended from the Indonesian second chamber: the leader of the delegation gave a fascinating talk on the work of the fledgling chamber.

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Es ist Freitag und wie bereits letzte Woche gibt es wieder einen kleinen Überblick über Mode und deren Wirkung auf die Gesellschaft. auf dem Programm stehen ein H&M in Bahrain, Karibische Designer in Kanada und „Wegwerfmode“.

H&M eröffnet Fiale in Bahrain

Der schwedische Moderiese wird im September eine Fiale in Bahrain eröffnen. Wie Zawya berichtet, ist dies ein weiter Schritt um in der Region Fuß zu fassen:

Die erfolgreiche Eröffnung einer Fiale in Bahrain kommt kurz nach der Eröffnung der ersten H&M Fiale im Nahen Osten, die am 5. Juli in Kairo stattfand. Weitere Präsenzen werden demnächst im Königreich Saudi-Arabien an den Standorten Jeddah und Damman folgen.

H&M befindet sich im „Bahrain City Centre“ in bester Nachbarschaft zu Mango, Zara, Starbucks, Escada etc. Wer sich für eine ausührliche Liste interessiert, wird unter skyscrapercity.com fündig.

Karibische Designer brillieren bei Kanadischer Modenschau:

Die Designer aus acht Karibikstaaten, die an der kanadischen Fashion Week teilnahmen, überzeugten auf ganzer Linie. In der guyanischen Stabroeknews gibt der Veranstalter der Fashion Week seine Einschätzungen über die karibischen Designer ab:

Rodney Powers, der Veranstalter der Fashion Week, sagte den Medien in Kanada, dass die Zusammenarbeit mit den karibischen Designer fantastisch war und dass ihnen die Vorbereitung auf den kanadischen Markt einen entscheidenden Vorteil bei der Aufrechterhaltung eines Wettbewerbsvorteil in der Modebranche verschafften.

Es nahmen Designer aus Guyana, Trinidad und Tobago, St. Lucia, Jamaika, Grenada, St. Vincent und den Grenadinen, Haiti und Barbados teil.

House of Lords veruteilt „Wegwerfmode“

Wie die Zeitung Independent berichtet, beschuldigt das House of Lords die britische Modeindustrie der Förderung einer „Wegwerfgesellschaft“ und fordert deshalb eine Strafsteuer auf günstige Mode. Die Sun zitiert den Report wie folgt :

[D]ie Regierung sollte die Mehrwertsteuer für „ökologische“ Produzenten abschaffen, während billige Kleidung mit den vollen 17,5% besteuert werden sollten.

In der DailyMail gibt es eine spannende Auseinandersetzung zwischen einer Befürworterin eines Boykottes gegenüber preiswerter Kleidung und einer Gegnerin eines Boykottes. Alexandra Shulman, Chefredakteurin der britischen Vogue, macht klar, warum ein Boykott großer Unsinn wäre:

Günstige Kleider sind eine der großen Wohltaten des modernen Lebens: sie bieten eine sofortige Befriedigung, ohne das Bankkonto zu plündern. Und, ehrlich gesagt, im Moment, in dem all unsere Lebenshaltungskosten steigen, in einer so unkontrolierbaren Weise, etwas bezauberndes zu finden, dass einem ein Wohlgefühl gibt (auch wenn es nur vorübergehend ist) wurde noch nie so sehr geschätzt.

Bis nächste Woche.

P.S.: Wer an täglichen Neuigkeiten aus der Modebranche interessiert ist, ist herzlich eingeladen, mein Blog unter http://www.style-watch.com zu besuchen.

The House of Lords Science Committee has condemned the British fashion industry for encouraging a "throwaway society".

A highly critical report attacked the culture of "fast fashion" yesterday as the committee urged ministers to do more to cut Britain's mountains of commercial and domestic waste.

Peers warned that cheap fashions "encourage consumers to dispose of clothes which have only been worn a few times in favour of new, cheap garments which themselves will also go out of fashion and be discarded within a matter of months". The House of Lords committee also bemoaned the growth of electronic goods which are thrown away even though they still work.

It called on ministers to cut VAT rates for goods made from sustainable materials and said that tax should also be reduced for repairs to encourage people to keep their consumer goods longer.

read more...

There is one occasion each session when wit is expected to be to the fore.  At the start of a new session, the House debates the Queen's Speech and does so on a motion of thanks to the monarch.  The motion is moved by a very senior back-bencher and then seconded by an up-and-coming one.  The speeches are expected to be serious but also to have their light moments: they have something of the flavour of after-dinner speeches.  There have been some very memorable speeches in recent years, including by Lord Alli, Baroness Turner and - more recently - Lord Hart. 

Baroness Turner recalled the occasion when, much to her amazement, she was approached about the possibility of accepting a peerage. When she had got over the shock, she realised she had better tell her husband.  When he came in, she said: 'You had better sit down.  I have something very important to tell you.'  'You've not been having an affair, have you?' he asked.  'Oh no', she said, 'it's much worse than that'.

I gather this is technically quite feasible.  It strikes me as eminently sensible, enhancing viewer choice.   It is something I plan to pursue.

As a postscript, the photograph was taken this morning when I was walking in to Westminster.

A few years ago, there was a question on the condition of a female chimpanzee that had been rescued from ill-treatment.  The minister reported that the chimpanzee was now being well cared for and was housed with a group of chimpanzees.  He added, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that she was getting on rather well with the male leader of the group.  Before anyone else could put a supplementary question, Baroness Trumpington shot to her feet to declare: 'My Lords, she's better off than I am'. 

More recently, there was a question on portable antiquities.  After the minister had answered, there were several informed supplementaries, including one from Lady Trumpington.  She concluded with the words: 'My Lords, I declare an interest as a portable antiquity myself'.

Howridiculous asked me if I would give examples of humorous contributions made by peers in debate.  The House takes issues seriously, but it appreciates the occasional flash of humour.  Several instances come to mind. 

There was an occasion when Lord Whitty was a minister, answering a question on the effect of the use of mobile 'phones on aircraft.  There were several supplementaries from peers who clearly understood the subject.  The minister dealt with the issue seriously.  However, as we were clearly coming to the end of the time available, one peer got to his feet and said: 'Never mind about on aircraft, what about their use on terra firma?'

It was clear that Lord Whitty had not quite heard the question.  He turned to a fellow minister to find out what had been said.  By the time he got up, a little time had elapsed.  He felt he needed to justify the delay.  'I'm sorry, My Lords', he said, 'I thought terra firma might be some obscure airline.'

Lady Justice seems a little blinded in Europe.  This is a good thing.....regardless what you think, follow the just law. 

Those who sit on the Government front bench - Ministers and whips - receive salaries and have the support of civil servants.  Those who sit on the Opposition front benches (other than the Leader of the Opposition and the Opposition Chief Whip)  receive no salaries and have very limited research back-up.  Opposition parties in the Lords receive some funds to help them fulfil their parliamentary duties (known as Cranborne money, the equivalent to Short money in the Commons) but it is very limited and space and resources are extremely limited.  

Many front-benchers effectively fulfil what amount to full-time parliamentary roles.  In many respects, they are the unsung heroes of the House. They ensure that there is systematic scrutiny of a Bill, tabling probing or critical amendments and ensuring that ministers justify its provisions, as well as commenting on amendments tabled by other peers.  Commenting on amendments by experts can be as demanding for them as it is for ministers, probably more so given the absence of civil service support.  Opposition front benchers get little attention but they deserve recognition for the hard and essential work that they do.  They are central to the scrutinising role of the House.