2009 October 15

Washing Hands Saving Lives

October 15, 2009 By Claire 3 Comments

by Abby Dryden

Global handwashing day promotes effective hand hygiene across seventy countries. The event was first established last year in Stockholm. Today’s events specifically target children and aim to cut deaths.

The most effective way to prevent the spread of a range of infections can also be the cheapest. Children across the globe are encouraged to adopt good hand washing practices coupled with the use of soap and clean water. These simple behavioural changes would result in a dramatic reduction in the rates of infection.

“Diarrhoeal diseases, followed by respiratory infections are the biggest killers of children under the age of five in the developing world. Handwashing with soap can cut the transmission of diarrhoea by up to a half, and of respiratory infections by up to a third. Hygiene promotion is one of the most cost effective interventions for improving health, and is better than vaccinations” Gaby Judah London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

This shift in behaviour is particularly important to establish if the Millenium Development goal of reducing mortality rates amongst children under the age of five by two thirds is to be met by 2015. Further information can be found at www.globalhandwashingday.org

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Beat the recession blues

October 15, 2009 By catherinehenderson1 1 Comment

By Catherine Henderson

The figures speak for themselves – 1 in every 4 adults have a diagnosable mental health problem in any one year, unemployed people are twice as likely to commit suicide, the UK has one of the highest rates of self harm than any other country in the European Union. Add to these alarming facts new reports which show that the pressure of life in an economic downturn can cause major anxiety and therefore an increase in mental health problems and the need for innovative support becomes that much greater.

Edinburgh based Cognitive Behavioural Therapist Ruth Johnson, is well aware of the pressure that life in a recession can bring to people. Later this month she will introduce her own response by delivering an 8 week course, Johnson says “The course will be targeted at raising people’s self esteem and focussing on how people can help themselves to get through tough times.”

Chief Executive of the mental health charity Mind, Paul Farmer says “Redundancy and money worries put strain on relationships, cause sleepless nights, trigger stress and increase the risk of developing depression. When it comes to the current recession we are in unchartered territory as to how many people could be affected.”

Johnson continues “I see lots of people who are worried and stressed, and feel their lives are out of control. Nobody is immune to self-doubt I’ve worked with people in senior business roles, hospital consultants and teenagers all struggling in different ways with the pressures in their lives. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help people become more resilient and start to look at life and themselves in a more compassionate way.”

The 8 week course at Room4Health in Leith is aiming to offer an alternative to traditional one-to-one support. Johnson says “I will provide techniques on how to break out of negative self image and learn the art of self worth. The course will have a real educational aspect to it, helping people to develop new more supportive mindsets.”

Filed Under: Economy and Business Tagged With: cognitive behavioural therapy, Edinburgh, mental health, recession, Unemployment

Unemployment hits youths the hardest

October 15, 2009 By Aleks Jurczak Leave a Comment

by Aleksandra Jurczak

The level of unemployment among youths aged 16 – 24 reached its highest in 15 years, the newest statistics released by the Trades Union Council’s show.

The news come along the figures published by the Scottish Government showing the unemployment in Scotland is approaching the mark of 200,000, leaving one in five of its households jobless.

Liam Burns, President of NUS Scotland, said youths have been “hugely more effected” by the recession then any other sector and it is hard to predict whether this is a short-term or a permanent situation.

“The statistics do not show either group to be more disadvantaged; there is no clear disproportion between students or non-students, younger or older people facing difficulties finding a job.

“However, youths with no or little qualifications and work experience tend to miss out in the competition with overqualified people for a position.”

Ken Shaw,head of the Employment and Skills department of Edinburgh Council, says the figures represent the situation of long-term employment: “We have actually noted a recent rise in youths employed temporary and part-time. Many places look for a short time cover of vacant positions not requiring qualifications.”

However, he also recognises that the high figures come from youths leaving school and not deciding to continue in Higher Education.

“What employers look for is positive attitude but also presentation and this includes qualifications and references. These make the candidates valuable in the eyes of employers and raise their chances of getting the position.”

The Council carries out a voluntary and work experience programmes which help young people to find a placement and boost their confidence. NUS advices students to take part in projects of this type as well as taking on unpaid placements.

“Be proactive! Starting from your first year sit work experience, do some volunteering, do not miss out on summer jobs. These will affect how your CV looks like and really support your application,” says Mr Burns.

Filed Under: Economy and Business, Life and Society, News in Brief

TO PROTECT AND SERVE

October 15, 2009 By otis shaw Leave a Comment

By Otis Shaw

As the population retreats in horror at the latest evidence of police intervention, Otis Shaw looks into the source of this disillusionment and the current situation Britain is facing in the light of the G20 demonstrations.
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Thanks to the ever watchful eye of the media, a fresh outlook on the British ‘Bobby’, has exposed the fears of many great authors such as George Orwell and Philip K. Dick. Britain’s ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ has shown his true colours and now comes the time to ask who indeed are the police protecting and is the inevitable ‘Police State’ the future of Law enforcement?

Anti-War demonstrations, CND Activists, Anti- Capitalist movements and Eco-Warriors have changed the way we perceive what should be a stable environment for our children. Every day the police force have to deal with complaints, demonstrations and disruptions of one kind or another. The world is changing, and divisions of class and poverty, injustices to the masses, are producing a voice that can only be heard on the street.

History tells us of great movements changing world politics and making this planet a safer place to live in. The heroes of our past- Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and the many political prisoners who have suffered in silence would never have made an impact on our nation if the people no longer had a voice. Today’s police force are using pre-meditative action against civil disobedience. In the light of the recent anti capitalist demonstrations and the G20 protests, evidence shows the police and the state are working towards silencing the population.

If we look at the fundamental elements of policing, Thomas Hobbes’ explanation in Leviathian outlines the foundations for the situation we are in today. The “essential rights of sovereignty” allow the police to conduct themselves in a way that protects the state. Thomas Hobbs believed that, in order to establish a civil society, the sovereign must control civil, military, judicial and ecclesiastical powers. His main concern was that in order to maintain an effective government, one must have absolute authority.

If this is the basis for Britain’s established force then we are no longer concerned with working classes, teachers, activists and the media. The basic principles of policing today are concerned with protecting the state – politicians, bankers and corporations. The actions of officers in recent demonstrations, has shown a complete disregard for the original nine Peelian Principles. The police’s basic mission is to prevent crime and disorder. Police earn public respect, not by catering to public or political opinion or self interest, but by demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law. The police should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police are members of the public that are paid for duties that every citizen would do in the interest of community welfare.

Looking at these guidelines, the police are clearly not maintaining a relationship with the general public and have shown disregard for the guidelines given to them in basic police training. The results of police tactics, such as kettling and an unacceptable level of force during the protests, are clearly not in the interest of community welfare. In light of recent arrests of journalists and photographers, the police have taken on the powers of the judiciary. Under Section 2 of the Harassment Act, the police force are making sure ‘ the State’ are secure and the truth is unobtainable to the general public. Contrary to the guidelines within the association of Chief Police Officers, in which it is stated members of the media have a duty to report from incidents involving the police, the police have no legal power or moral responsibilty to prevent or restrict what is recorded, a permit is not required and the police have no power to delete or confiscate media coverage, photographers and journalists are being arrested and their equipment confiscated or destroyed.

Press officer, Andrew Wood, was subjected to police surveillance, whilst attending a company meeting with connections to the arms trade, in April 2005. Journalist, Marc Vallee, was pushed to the ground, during a “Sack Parliament” protest in October 2006, sustaining back injuries that left him unable to work for a month. The list of arrests and seizures continues every year and the common thread is a clear campaign to prevent the truth from reaching the masses.

The lengths the police will go to in order to protect the state and censor the media, has become evident during the G20 demonstrations in April this year. The police are aware that news coverage now can come from anyone, with or without a permit. Demonstrations against the state are covered from the front line. The measures taken to restrict the freedom of this information take us back to Hobbes’ Leviathan and its enforcement of a strong central authority. According to Hobbes;

“society is a population beneath the sovereign authority, to whom all individuals in that society cede their natural rights for the sake of protection. Any abuses of power by this authority are to be accepted as the price of peace”.

Opinion polls show that the people will no longer accept this level of force and the public are beginning to question the pre- emptive justice practiced by the Metropolitan Police. There is clearly an issue of determining the terrorist from the activist, and in the light of the G20 demonstrations, this distinction has become obscured with violent attacks on innocent bystanders. The protector has become the aggressor in order to contain widespread unrest in the country. The question is perhaps how long will the general public accept that officers who step over the line, will be held accountable for their actions. The end result of this misconduct has brought the whole force into disrepute and has left your average man and woman wondering whether the police are in fact on our side. In defence of these allegations, Sir Ken Jones, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the UK’s public order policing is a mere protocol widely seen in other countries,

“I can’t find any other country which doesn’t use water cannon, CS gas, rubber bullets. Our approach is proportionate, and, in fact, has delivered on many other occations.”

Is the future to be an acceptance of plain clothed officers mingling amongst demonstrators with a baton in his hand? Are journalists to live in fear if they try to report the truth? The definition of a ‘Police state’ from A Dictionary of World History, is as follows;

‘The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional republic’.

Filed Under: All Politics, Courts and Crime, Life and Society, World In Depth

The world’s most expensive bridge

October 15, 2009 By strawberryletter1 Leave a Comment

By Lauren Gelling

The Scottish Parliament is set to investigate the proposed £2 billion cost of the new Forth Road Bridge.

The transport and finance committees will both look into why Transport Scotland have estimated such high amount for the structure, which is officially named the ‘Forth Replacement Crossing’.

The average cost of major road bridges around the world is less than £200,000 per metre, according to a recent survey. The cost of the new bridge, which will link Edinburgh to Fife, is valued at £750,ooo a metre, making it one of the world’s most expensive bridges.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “The main contract to build the bridge and the associated motorway connecting roads will be issued to tender next month. We expect the cost of that contract to be between £900m and £1.2bn when it is returned in 2010. Of that construction cost, we expect the cost of building the bridge to account for around 70 per cent. The estimated cost of the new bridge has been benchmarked against international comparisons and compares favourably with other similar structures around the world.”

Because the bridge is not set to be delivered until 2016, Transport Scotland say that they have taken a variety of factors such as VAT and inflation into account.

The spokesman continued: “The requirements of the bridge mean it will feature large spans – significantly larger than other comparable structures – which have to be constructed in a marine environment across important shipping lanes. These and other important factors – such as inflation, land costs, the amount of new connecting roads – all contribute to the cost, making superficial comparisons with other bridges misleading.”

Edinburgh’s Transport Convener, Gordon Mackenzie, said: “The fact that these committees want to look at the Forth Replacement Crossing is unsurprising given the recent history of difficulties experienced by high profile public construction projects e.g. Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh Trams. Equally, there has to be proper scrutiny of such a major spending commitment. We have to examine the assumptions behind the existing figures. I’m no expert but there are major differences between the costs of construction in Hong Kong and Scotland. Whether these justify the level of costs estimates is something for industry experts to comment on.

“However, leaving aside the cost issue, I believe there are significant flaws in the current proposals. As proposed, the new bridge will largely replicate the traffic problems we experience with the current bridge. Edinburgh, Fife, West Lothian and Midlothian Councils + SESTrans will shortly be issuing a joint press statement calling for the package to include funding for key elements of the public transport alternatives to be funded and will lobby for those to be included in the Bill as it goes through parliament.”